Surrey announce Arafat signing
Pakistan allrounder Yasir Arafat has switched counties, moving from Sussex to sign up as Surrey's overseas player for the entirety of the 2011 domestic season.
Arafat, a journeyman cricketer who has also enjoyed stints with Kent, Scotland and Otago - as well as with various domestic teams in Pakistan - will join up with Surrey in early April for his eighth season in the English domestic game and will be available in all three competitions for the duration of the season, complementing Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait in the Friends Provident t20.
"I am delighted to have the chance to play for Surrey next season and look forward to working with Chris Adams again," said Arafat, who is currently in Pakistan playing for Khan Research Laboratories. "It is a great opportunity and I am looking forward to helping the Club get back into the County Championship first division and being a part of the county's future success."
Arafat's seam and swing bowling is his stronger suit, and in the Twenty20 format he is the third-highest wicket taker of all time with 106 victims at an average of 21.67. He also has a handy record in both the first-class game, in which he averages 23.68, and in limited-overs cricket, in which he has taken 334 wickets at 24.96.
"Signing a player like Yasir Arafat will give us the stability that we have searched for in our overseas signing," added Adams, Surrey's professional cricket manager. "I have spent much of the winter searching for that elusive spin option to complement the squad but have been unable to find a suitable option.
"Having also factored in Chris Tremlett's emergence as a quality Test bowler I have opted for a different approach in Yasir Arafat. We have not got the overseas position right now for some years at Surrey, but in Yasir I believe we have a very solid performer and very rounded individual who will add quality to the squad in all forms of the game."
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