So we will not now be seeing Mohammad Ghazanfar in Derbyshire colours this summer. The Afghanistan cricket board have withdrawn the player’s availability, to manage his workload.
Mickey Arthur has moved quickly and has engaged the services of Sufyan Moqim, who was due to start the tournament for the county, until the end of the Vitality Blast group stages.
So Derbyshire will have the services Moqim, Akif Javed and Caleb Jewell to choose from and can play two of them.
Jewell had another failure for the second team today, making only eight against Leicestershire at Belper, so Arthur may be tempted to field the two bowlers against Yorkshire at Chesterfield on Sunday. That may in turn see an opening for Yusuf Bin Naeem and Derbyshire could go with this side:
Donald, Andersson, Naeem, Madsen, Montgomery, Whiteley, Basra, Potts, Aitchison, Javed, Moqim
It highlights once again the challenge of trying to put a squad together for the English county season. It is little wonder that the move to one overseas player per county in 2028 is gathering pace, because that in itself is proving the challenge. Most counties have nigh-revolving doors of players flying in for a few games, then out again. Lancashire yesterday signed Pakistan international Shadab Khan, while Surrey engaged Josh Philippe, the Australian wicket-keeper/bat, both for the remainder of The Blast
Arthur clearly rates Moqim, a young bowler on the rise in Pakistan, so we must hope he quickly comes to terms with English wickets.
Welcome to Derbyshire, Sufyan.