Canterbury sign Yasir Arafat for HRV Cup

Canterbury have signed Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan fast-bowling allrounder, for their domestic Twenty20 cricket campaign this summer. Arafat played both the Twenty20s and one-day games for Otago two seasons ago, and took 16 wickets in 14 games and scored a century. This year he will represent Canterbury only in the HRV Cup.

Arafat has played 11 ODIs and three Tests for Pakistan but has not been in the national side since February 2010. He will join Canterbury after a summer with Surrey in which he took 49 wickets at an average of 34.53 across formats in the English domestic season.

"We're delighted to get Yasir and I think he'll be great for us," Canterbury coach Bob Carter said. "He will bring a real balance to the side with his all-round game I think, something that will be very useful in Twenty20 cricket.

"'We were after a bowling allrounder to complement our batting strength and his all-round skills will be very valuable for us. He's an explosive player capable of doing some special things with the ball and bat, and we're hoping that he can add to the environment we've already created."