What's new

[PICTURES/VIDEOS] Mohammad Abbas performance watch at Nottinghamshire in the County Championship season 2025

FearlessRoar

T20I Star
Joined
Sep 11, 2023
Runs
30,521

ABBAS SIGNS FOR SIX-GAME STINT​


Pakistan international Mohammad Abbas has signed for Nottinghamshire, and will be available for six fixtures in the Rothesay County Championship.

The right-armer, who has 755 First-Class wickets to his name at an average of 20.62, will begin his stint in May, following the conclusion of Fergus O'Neill's month-long spell with the side.

He will then return to the club in September for the closing stages of the Rothesay County Championship season.

Abbas joins fellow seamer O'Neill and South Africa international Kyle Verreynne in agreeing terms as an overseas player for the upcoming red-ball campaign, with Conor McKerr (three-year contract) and Daniel Sams (Blast) having also joined the club ahead of the new season.

“Trent Bridge is a special place to play cricket, so it will be great to call the ground home this summer - especially after not being able to come over and play for Notts five years ago,” he said.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time in the English game, and the squad at Notts is in an exciting place.

“There’s a good blend of young talent and senior players who’ve been around for a while and know their game really well, and I’m looking forward to contributing in any way that I can to their success.”

Abbas originally agreed to join Nottinghamshire for the 2020 season, before the Covid-19 pandemic left him unable to represent the club that summer.

In subsequent years, the 34-year-old has represented Hampshire, taking 180 wickets at 19.07 across four summers in Southampton, with successive 50-wicket seasons in 2022 and 2023.

His First-Class form has led to a recall to the Pakistan Test side in recent weeks, with his two appearances against South Africa this winter among 30 caps in red and white-ball formats.

In total, Abbas has 101 international wickets, while his domestic record also includes 79 wickets for Leicestershire between 2018 and 2019.

“Players of Mo’s experience and track record don’t come around all that often, so we’re really excited about what he can bring to us this summer,” said Head Coach Peter Moores.

“His control and his ability to find a way of getting wickets on any sort of surface make him extremely valuable; he’s certainly been a tough opponent for us to face over the years.

“We’ve already got an exciting group of bowlers at our disposal for the summer, and the addition of Mo’s craft and subtlety will add a different style of bowling to the rest of our attack.”

 
Speaking to a local news TV channel at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (CCC) head coach Peter Moores praised Abbas’s ability to deliver economical spells and swing the ball both ways on a variety of pitches.

He said:

"Mohammad Abbas is a top-class new-ball bowler who creates pressure and gives you control in the game. That’s a role he knows really well, and I’m looking forward to getting him into action.”
 
I’m always fighting myself’: Mohammad Abbas on Notts, Pakistan and Guardiola’s hotel room' [The guardian - Ali Martin]

Yes, this is true,” says Mohammad Abbas, matter-of-factly, during a chat at Trent Bridge. The question concerns the time Manchester City supposedly asked for Pep Guardiola to be billeted in the penthouse at Hampshire’s on-site hotel before a match in Southampton – only to be told a more important guest was in town.

“I didn’t know about it at the time but our head coach told me the next morning that he had wanted my room,” Abbas says of Guardiola. “The Hilton emailed the Hampshire management to ask if it was possible but they were told no, I would be spending six months there. So that was what happened.”

It is a cool story and in fairness, Abbas did plenty to deserve VIP status at the club. Over the course of four seasons he finessed 180 wickets at 19.26 runs apiece which, following 79 at a similar average for Leicestershire, cemented his claim to be one of – if not the – leading exponents of seam-up in the County Championship. Abbas in full flow is a bit like a Guardiola team: Swiss clock accuracy allied with Swiss army knife skills.

The numbers and the excellence of execution made Hampshire’s decision to release Abbas last winter a surprise one, with Nottinghamshire – his intended destination in 2020 before Covid intervened – quick to snap up the 35-year-old on a six-match deal. This prompted speculation as to whether Hampshire’s new owners, India’s GMR Group, did not want a Pakistani cricketer on their books but Abbas is having none of it.

“No, that’s not why,” says Abbas, fresh from giving Haseeb Hameed, his new captain, a workout in the nets before his first outing against his former employers. “James Vince had stopped playing four-day cricket and they said they needed a batter for an overseas player; so a bit of a restructure. We had good communication around it and they are good people. Still they are messaging me and I am messaging them. They are fantastic.”

We could go deeper on India-Pakistan cricket relations in a week when the fallout from the Pahalgam terrorist attack has escalated dramatically. But it is a highly sensitive topic and Abbas, it soon transpires after a question about having not played since March, is still coping with tragic news of his own back home.

“The last three months have been very hard for my family,” he says. “Both my brother and sister passed away, so I took a break. My sister was married last June and passed because of [complications with her] pregnancy. My brother was a kidney patient for the past year. We had a plan for his transplant but he passed away just before Eid.”

Abbas says his family’s pain is starting to settle and he wants to be professional for his new team. Playing in the East Midlands, with its large Pakistani community, is another source of comfort, while there is also a joke that staying in Pakistan much longer would not have been good for his fitness. “Too much fatty food,” he says with a smile. “When you go to meet your relatives, they are just inviting you to eat these things.”

Though into his mid-30s, Abbas is a remarkably lithe and durable bowler, such that he is laser focused on playing for a good while yet. Given his county exploits and eight wickets to set up a memorable Test win at Lord’s in 2018, Pakistan’s series in England next summer is, unsurprisingly, a target.

Abbas, though, pushes back at the notion of being a Dukes ball or even red-ball specialist, insisting he is a bowler for all surfaces, all formats. Here he begins reeling off his own figures to back it up, bringing to mind another meticulous overseas pro for Nottinghamshire in Sir Richard Hadlee.

First come his 775 first-class wickets at just a tick over 20, before a reminder of the challenging surfaces at home on which more than half off those have come. Then comes the Test bowling average of 23.18 that, of the 20 Pakistanis to take 100 or more Test wickets, is second only to Imran Khan. “I am always fighting myself,” he says, when asked about his motivations. “I’m always trying to beat my career best things.”

The question here is why Abbas, on exactly 100 Test wickets and a domestic great, has not won more than his 27 caps. “It is hard, as a human being,” he says. “But unfortunately our management, coaches and captains change every six months or year. I don’t know about the mindset of these guys but maybe they wanted to give a chance to youngsters. Also, we do not play enough Test matches. That is the main problem.”

Another factor in recent times is the surfaces Pakistan have been preparing for Test cricket, with their 2-1 series victory against England last October achieved via bespoke rank turners on which the spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali shared 39 wickets in two outings. After a three-year hiatus, Abbas returned to play the two Tests in South Africa that followed, nipping out 10 wickets with the Kookaburra ball and showing remarkable endurance, only to be overlooked at home to West Indies three weeks later.

“Most teams are looking for home advantage,” Abbas says. “But I think this [approach] is not good for the future of fast bowling in Pakistan. I think the coaching staff is going to change again soon. I don’t know what they have planned for the next year.”

Another suspicion is that pace has been a factor, with Abbas typically operating in the low 80s on the speed gun and chiefly outskilling his opponents. It brings us on to the subject of Sam Cook, a similar medium-fast “nip” bowler who is poised to make his England debut this month and buck something of a trend towards the quicker men.

Abbas says: “My advice is just to bowl the same as he does in county cricket, to stay calm, keep to his basics and confidence will grow. The most important thing is to know who you are as a bowler and not try to be something you are not.”

Coming from a bowler so celebrated he once denied Manchester City’s manager a penthouse suite, it feels like a pep talk worth listening to.
Lovely yet heartbreaking. Ali's the goat
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mohammad Abbas, representing Nottinghamshire, has impressed with the ball by claiming two wickets — removing Nick Gubbins for 0 and Tom Prest for 43 — in Hampshire’s first innings at Trent Bridge.
 
Last edited:
Abbas is playing today for Nottinghamshire against Durham. His team is batting first but he will be in action with the ball soon.
 
Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire has started, and Mohammad Abbas is in the playing 11 of the Nottinghamshire team for this game.

His team is batting atm but Abbas will surely be in action later...
 
Mohammad Abbas is currently delivering an exceptional bowling performance against Yorkshire, having bowled 17.3 overs, including 4 maidens, and taken 6 wickets for just 45 runs, an impressive economy rate of 2.57 and no wides or no-balls,
 
Back
Top