South African fast bowler Wayne Parnell on Saturday signed on to Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2018 and agreed to play the PSL matches which will be held in Pakistan, sources within the paceman’s Pakistani agency, Saya Corporation, said.
According to sources, the cricketer has agreed to play all PSL matches that will be held in local venues.
Parnell recently shined in the Caribbean Premier League and also participated in Bangladesh Premier League as part of the Sylhet Sixers squad.
South African batsman JP Duminy, who also recently signed on to play PSL 2018, already showed willingness to play some matches in Pakistan.
It has been speculated that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has offered foreign players $10,000 as match fee for each PSL match that they agree to play in Pakistan.
On Saturday, the PCB announced the addition of international cricketers, including Darren Bravo, Luke Ronchi and Albie Morkel, in the PSL’s third edition.
Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rehman, West Indian Captain Jason Holder and England’s James Vince and Tim Bresnan are among the new signings for PSL, it said.
“South African middle-order star J.P. Duminy, who recently called an end to his Test career in a bid to focus on limited overs cricket, will add experience and firepower to the player roster. He is joined by his national teammates Wayne Parnell and Pakistan-born South African spin wizard Imran Tahir,” the release said.
Former Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews and New Zealanders Luke Ronchi, Colin Munro and Mitchell McClenaghan are among others roped in by the PCB for PSL 2018.
“This is an expansion year and, therefore, our efforts are geared towards making this bigger and better than the first two seasons,” PCB Chairman Najam Sethi said. “We have top tier international talent joining a pool of released players and this sets us up very nicely for the main draft.”
“Teams will now pick one player each in the Platinum, Diamond and Gold categories; two in Silver; two in Emerging; and up to four players in the supplementary round to make up their squads,” the PCB release on Saturday said.
New signings will join the players who are still unpicked after being released at the end of retention window in the draft pool for PSL’s third edition.
Other players joining the league this year are Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmon, Chris Lynn, Rashid Khan, Adil Rashid and Mitchell Johnson.
The players’ draft is expected later this month, while PSL 2018 will be played in February next year.
