[VIDEOS] Mir Hamza at Sussex - Performance Watch
Pakistan left-arm seamer, Mir Hamza will join Sussex Cricket for nine first-class matches in 2019.
Hamza will be available for eight Specsavers County Championship matches, starting with the away fixture against Northamptonshire that begins on Monday 20thMay and finishing with the match against Lancashire at Old Trafford that starts on Saturday 13th July.
The Karachiite’s stint on the South Coast will take in four of Sussex’s home fixtures in the competition, three at The 1st Central County Ground and the match against Gloucestershire at Arundel Castle in mid-June.
The 26-year-old will also be available for the tour match against Australia A at Arundel between Sunday 7th July and Wednesday 10th July.
Looking ahead to his time with Sussex, Hamza said: “I’m very excited to have the chance to play county cricket with a great club like Sussex, following in the footsteps of Pakistan legends like Javed Miandad and Imran Khan.
“I hope I can make a good contribution towards some victories. And on a personal level I am looking forward to working with – and learning from – Jason Gillespie.”
Sussex head coach, Gillespie added: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Mir Hamza to Sussex.
“He’s a left-arm swing bowler who has performed well when opportunities have been there for him for his country. He will add to the depth our seam bowling unit at the club. He will no doubt have a positive impact.”
Hamza made his Test debut for Pakistan in their crushing 373-run win against Australia in Abu Dhabi earlier this winter. He caught the eye with his dismissal of Shaun Marsh via a fine seaming delivery that knocked the opener’s off-stump out of the ground.
In ten first-class matches for Pakistan A, Hamza has taken 25 wickets, including a best of 4-53 against Yorkshire at Headingley the tour of England in 2016. Later in the same tour, he took 4-62 against Sri Lanka A at New Road.
England supporters may also remember Hamza’s performance for Pakistan A in a two-day match against an England XI in October 2015 when he picked up the wickets of Alex Hales, Jos Buttler, Johnny Bairstow and Moeen Ali on his way to figures of 4-34.
In total, the Karachi Dolphins player has taken 282 wickets in 59 first-class matches at an average of 18.34.
Imran Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed provide the inspiration for Mir Hamza
Mir Hamza has revealed how a Sussex great gave his big move to England the seal of approval.
Now he hopes to warm to his task in the far north and help the county get their Championship season up and running.
Hamza still cannot quite believe his Pakistani compatriot Shoaib Akhtar played for Durham.
“Shoaib hates the cold,” he said as he prepared for the first away trip of the Specsavers County Championship season.
Sussex are in Chester-le-Street to take on revamped Durham and Hamza will have a Hove legend keeping an eye on his numbers from afar.
Mushtaq Ahmed, the Pakistan wizard who span Sussex towards three Championship titles between 2003 and 2007, told Hamza he was making a great move when he signed his deal.
Hamza took three wickets on the first day of his Sussex career before it all rather fizzled out in the seven-wicket defeat at home to Leicestershire.
But the signs were there to suggest he can be another Pakistani hit at Hove.
Hamza told The Argus: “Mushtaq was a coach of mine one or two years ago in the national cricket academy.
“He is a very naturally friendly coach and he told me a lot about county cricket.
“When he knew I was contracted with Sussex, he motivated me a lot.
Mushtaq Ahmed
“He congratulated me on joining the Sussex team.
“He said, ‘You are going to love the team because they are a very friendly club, they have a lot of qualities’.
“He told me a lot about Sussex too.
“Obviously he told me about the slope at Hove but, you know, the slope is not actually a problem for fast bowlers.
“They enjoy it a lot because you don’t need a lot of effort bowling down the slope.
“You just come in easily and bowl fast.”
Hamza started out bowling up the slope, as his idol Imran Khan used to prefer, before switching to the Cromwell Road End.
He was brought up on tales of Imran’s exploits for county and country.
Hamza said: “Sussex is a special team for me because our heroes used to play here.
“It is a very exciting and proud moment that I am representing the same team.
“Yes, I’m young, but I follow Imran very much and I know everything about him.
“He is an inspiration for us and he has got a very good personality.
“He used to be a very good cricketer and I know about his performances for Sussex.”
Hamza would love to follow suit for the club. And for his country, perhaps? He said: “I played just the one Test match so my goal and my purpose is to become a permanent member of the Pakistan cricket team.
“Either I do it in Test cricket or one-day cricket.
“These county matches, both four-day and one-day, will really help do that.
“When you play here, you become a very professional cricketer.
“You gain a lot of experience from playing here, especially if you are a fast bowler.
“You learn how to swing the ball in tough conditions.
“The weather can be very cold and we are not used to very cold conditions back in Pakistan.
“When the weather is cloudy, you need to control the swing over here because the ball swings a lot.”
Hamza can test his control or the red ball in cold and cloudy weather over the next few days.
And he might get out and about to pursue his other passion.
He said: “I love photography very much. Wherever I go, I always have a camera in my bag.
“I will do a lot of photography in Hove and in Brighton.
“I always enjoy reading books as well. These two are my passions apart from cricket.”
Durham’s batting order no longer includes Paul Collingwood but they are under new management in Marcus North and James Franklin.
https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/cri...for-mir-hamza/
