County cricket commitment for Yorkshire's Ajmal Shahzad (From York Press)

County cricket commitment for Yorkshire's Ajmal Shahzad

10:14am Friday 29th January 2010

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Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan has dampened fears that Ajmal Shahzad’s England call-up will affect his county commitments.

The club’s latest international star has been selected for the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh after a superb County Championship season in 2009 yielded 40 wickets and 445 runs.

Shahzad, the 24-year-old pace bowler, undoubtedly has the ability to perform at the top level in the coming years.

But, as things stand, he has taken advantage of England’s decision to take no risks with injured spearhead Jimmy Anderson.

Regan said: “We are delighted for Ajmal Shahzad in getting England recognition. We know that he had a very good season for us last year. We fought hard in the winter period to keep him despite much interest from clubs across the country.

“He was rewarded with the call-up for the tour to Bangladesh.

“But I think, to be fair, he knows and we know that he’s been called up to replace bowlers who have been rested.

“Therefore, unless he has a fantastic and outstanding tour of Bangladesh, he is likely to be replaced for the Pakistan series by the likes of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.

“Yorkshire will probably see Ajmal Shahzad for most of the domestic season.”

However, there is every chance the ECB will continue with their policy of rest and rotation during the early part of the English summer when Bangladesh tour these shores.

It may be the perfect opportunity for Anderson to test out his knee ahead of the tougher Pakistan series, and Broad, who will travel next month, could be rested. That could open the door for Shahzad again.

Yorkshire have had 11 players on England duty over the winter, from under-19s to the ECB Performance Programme camps to the full England squad.

And, even if that means Yorkshire suffer through unavailability, Regan is confident the county can cope.

He added: “We all know that if our players perform and get called up then they will go on and represent their country, but that provides opportunities closer to home for some of our younger players.

“We’ve got the likes of young James Lee and Oliver Hannon Dalby, who will be watching with interest how Ajmal does because there could be places in the squad in the future.

“Martyn Moxon’s said for some time that we’ve been focused on developing the pipeline of talent all the way through from our academy to our first team.. We’re very excited about that.

“That all bodes well for the future because it will hopefully give Yorkshire the strength in depth we need to try to put the results together to compete for some trophies.”

Meanwhile, Yorkshire’s overseas bowler Ryan Harris was expected to get another chance to further his one-day international ambitions this morning when Australia played Pakistan in Perth.

The 30 year-old returned man of the match figures of 5-43 at Adelaide on Tuesday.

Like Shahzad, Harris has taken advantage of players such as Shane Watson and Doug Bollinger being rested.

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