Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and denying players NOC to play foreign leagues is a match made in heaven. Usama Mir, the Pakistani spin all-rounder, becomes the latest victim of this relationship that goes way back than anyone cares to remember. As per reports, the spinner applied for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play the T20 Blast in England which is set to commence on the 30th of May. Worcestershire Rapids announced re-signing the spinner in December last year for the 2024 season. Since the leggie could not make it to Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad, he was expected to be available to play for the whole season.
However, to no one’s surprise, the governing body for cricket in Pakistan denied the tweaker permission to feature in the franchise league. This decision was made in the light of the three-year contract that Usama Mir, like the rest of his Pakistan team members, signed. As per the contract, all centrally contracted cricketers could only play two T20 leagues in addition to Pakistan Super League (PSL) during each season. The leg-spinner had played the Hundred in August last year as well as Big Bash League in December 2023.
Having played two leagues makes him ineligible to contest in another. This raises the question, why did Usama apply for the NOC in the first place despite being aware of the terms of the contract? There are two reasons for that. Number one, the tweaker played the Hundred before signing the central contract in September 2023. However, the contract was backdated to start from July 2023. In other words, the two-leagues-per-season rule came into effect in July. Number two, Usama had only played five matches of the Big Bash League before being pulled out by the PCB to participate in the five-match New Zealand series.
Owing to the aforementioned reasons, Mir as well as the Worcestershire Rapids management deemed applying for the NOC worth a try. However, five matches, or a full season, for the PCB all count the same.
Worcestershire Rapids would definitely miss the presence of the Pakistani spinner as he topped the bowling and batting average charts for his team during the yesterseason. Playing 11 matches, he scored 132 runs in six innings while striking at a whopping 163 rate and took 19 scalps at an average of 16.9. The West Indian leg-spinner Hayden Walsh has been called up as the replacement for Mir. Walsh also happens to be a part of the reserves for the Windies in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Worcestershire’s CEO, Ashley Giles announced the replacement as the news of Usama withdrawing from the league surfaced. Talking about Hayden’s inclusion, he seemed hopeful that the West Indian leggie would prove to be a good addition.
“While it’s unfortunate that Usama couldn’t join us, we are confident that Hayden will fit in seamlessly and make a valuable contribution to our campaign.”
It merits mention here that Usama was dropped from the Pakistan team for the ongoing T20I series against Ireland and England. According to Pakistan’s selector, Abdul Razzaq, Usama Mir was dropped because the team did not need another legspinner as that area was being taken care of by Shadab Khan. Instead, the rookie mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed was added to the squad.
