Mohammad Ali, the Pakistan seam bowler, will join up with Nottinghamshire in time to play the Vitality T20 Blast after the club extended his contract in the wake of Peter Siddle being barred from appearing in the competition.

Ali, 33, has worked previously with Notts assistant coach Paul Franks when the latter coached in Pakistan. He originally signed to play for Notts in the One-Day Cup and County Championship through August and September, but will now feature in the Blast as well.

The right-armer has been capped by Pakistan eight times across formats, most recently in March 2025. He arrives at Trent Bridge on the back of a successful PSL season with Hyderabad Kingsmen, where his 20 wickets helped the new franchise reach the final – and earned him a spot in ESPNcricinfo’s team of the tournament.

“I am really pleased to get the opportunity to come to Trent Bridge earlier than expected, and I am really looking forward to the Vitality Blast,” Ali said. “I was already really excited about the chance to come and play in England, so when I was told there was a chance to come earlier, I said yes straight away.

“I have heard a lot about how good Trent Bridge is to play at, and I can’t wait to meet the team and play in front of the brilliant fans. I think we have a really good squad this year and I am excited to play with them and hopefully go really far in this competition.”

Notts were forced into a last-minute rethink of their Blast plans by the news last month that Siddle would not be allowed to play for them after taking part in “disapproved cricket” – namely the World Legends Pro T20 League in Goa earlier this year.

The Blast gets under way on Friday, with Notts taking on Yorkshire in the North Group as part of the competition’s rejig. In addition to Ali, they will have South Africa slow left-armer George Linde to fill their overseas slots.

Peter Moores, Nottinghamshire’s head coach, said: “It’s great news that we’ve been able to secure the services of Mohammad a bit earlier than planned. When it became clear last month that we’d have to find another overseas player for this year’s Vitality Blast, Mohammad was the obvious choice.

“With his recent performances in the PSL, I’m really excited by what he can bring to our group, and Paul Franks has always spoken highly about his ability as well as his character. He’ll add a lot of experience and quality to our group, which is what we want from our overseas players, as we look to hit our targets in the Blast this year.”

Middlesex bring in NZ’s Boyle

New Zealand A batter Matthew Boyle has joined Middlesex for the Blast. Boyle, 23, played under Middlesex head coach, Peter Fulton, for Canterbury and topped the run-scoring charts in the 2024-25 Super Smash.

A middle-order batter who can also bowl legspin, Boyle has scored 640 runs in 28 T20 appearances at a strike rate of 150.58. He will join South African allrounder Eathan Bosch as Middlesex’s overseas players for the competition.

“I’m very grateful and excited for the opportunity to play at a club steeped in history,” Boyle said. “Being able to call the Home of Cricket my home ground for any period of time is something I never thought could have been a possibility, and I am equally excited to be able to play in a competition with the quality of the Vitality Blast.

“It will be great to be working under Fults again. I really enjoyed him at Canterbury, and am excited to see how he is with the Middlesex boys. I look forward to continuing to learn through him, the extended coaching staff and the players.

Fulton added: “I know Matt well from my time in New Zealand, coaching him at Canterbury for the past four seasons. He is a tall left-hander with a career T20 strike rate of over 150 and will add power to our top order. I have no doubt we will see Matt playing international cricket for New Zealand in the future, and I am looking forward to seeing him make a name for himself at Middlesex.”