Worcestershire yesterday re-signed their former fast bowler Alamgir Sheriyar on a month's loan.
The Birmingham-born left-armer will fill the hole left by England paceman Kabir Ali who aggravated a calf strain yesterday while preparing for today's opening County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.
Sheriyar has been under-employed since he left New Road for Kent after the 2002 season - but his football-style loan transfer will cover Kabir's exclusion from at least Worcestershire's first two Championship matches.
Kabir's latest injury problem, apart from being a massive blow to his England hopes, comes on top of fellow fast bowler Nadeem Malik being out for another month following a shin operation. New overseas signing Chaminda Vaas arrives next week but all- rounder Zander De Bruyn is due at the end of the month.
Worcestershire chief executive Mark Newton said: "Kabir looks like he will miss not only this game but the next one at Durham so we had to act quickly. Within two-andahalf hours of making the first phone call, Sheri was in his car and on his way to Derby.
"The rule of bringing players in on loan has actually been there for two or three years but new regulations this season have made it simpler to use, and I believe we are the first to do such a deal. But I can see a lot more clubs using it.
"For instance," Newton half-joked, "there might be a side out there right now with need of a spinner and we've got three."
