Hampshire Cricket forced to play a waiting game with Shaheen Afridi

The county have already had to cancel Australian spinner Nathan Lyon’s red ball contract due to the start of the season being delayed until May 28 at the earliest.Afridi - who celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this month - is due to play for Hampshire in the T20 Blast, with the first game scheduled for May 29 against Sussex at The Ageas Bowl.But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no-one can be sure when the competitive season will begin.‘We’ll just have to see what the tournament looks like and the positioning in the calendar before we can see whether it’s possible to have him (Afridi) with us,’ said Hampshire director of cricket Giles White.‘He’s a very exciting prospect. We’re really excited about having him with us at Hampshire. And if it does turn out that he isn’t with us this year, then hopefully we can look to get him back.’Left-arm pace bowler Afridi took 13 wickets for Lahore Qalandars in the recent Pakistan Super League, before the tournament was curtailed at the semi-final stage.Only one bowler had managed to take more wickets in the competition, with Afridi’s best figures 4-18 off four overs against Islamabad.White managed to get out to the sub-continent to watch the youngster first-hand.‘He bowls with really good pace,” he said. ‘That was the bit that impressed me more than anything. I wasn’t aware of just how quick he is.‘He was outstanding throughout the period I was there. ‘He had a real influence on games and it was very exciting thinking he was coming over to Hampshire.‘There is a buzz about him. He’s a young man but has been given a lot of responsibility in terms of his cricket, being a leading bowler with Pakistan in all formats.‘He’s an exciting prospect but in the next couple of years he could become a really significant player on the international scene if it continues the way he has started.’Afridi has indeed made a big impact in the international scene since his debut just five days before his 18th birthday in a T20 international in April 2018.He has since taken 30 wickets in eight Tests and 16 wickets in 12 T20 internationals.Afridi has also bagged 40 wickets in 19 ODIs, with his best figures 6-35 against Bangladesh - the best figures of any bowler in last summer’s World Cup tournament.