Warwickshire eye Collins Obuya for overseas spot

According to George Dobell, writing in the Birmingham Post, Warwickshire are lining up Kenyan leg-spinner Collins Obuya as their second overseas player for the coming season. The county have not made any comment on the possibility.

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has already signed a contract to take one of the overseas spots, but despite being linked with a number of players, none of the negotiations have borne fruit as yet.

Obuya shot to prominence during the World Cup when the 21-year-old took five for 24 against Sri Lanka. In 28 one-day internationals he has taken 25 wickets at a cost of 45 apiece while his ten first-class matches have resulted in 27 wickets at 32.44. He is, however, learning all the time and could prove to be an interesting acquisition for Warwickshire.

If he does sign, there is some doubt about who his captain will be. Michael Powell has broken a toe in the nets and will be out for some six weeks. Vice-captain Dougie Brown has taken over for the time being, but Nick Knight has had captaincy experience, leading the England A team to Kenya and Sri Lanka in 1998, while Mark Wagh captained Oxford University before joining the Warwickshire staff on a full-time basis.