Excitement is building at the County Ground ahead of the arrival of Pakistan fast-bowler Naseem Shah, who could make his Gloucestershire bow in the season opener against Northamptonshire.
The 19-year-old is set to fly to the UK next week after taking part in a hard-fought three-Test series against Australia, sure to bring an X-factor to the Glos attack if he makes his debut at Wantage Road on April 7.
Naseem made his Pakistan debut as a 16-year-old, with his express pace making him one of the most intriguing prospects in world cricket. He also holds the record for the youngest player to take a Test hat-trick, skittling the Bangladesh middle-order en route to an innings victory in 2020.
In 11 tests, he has taken 26 wickets at 39 apiece – mostly on unhelpful tracks in the subcontinent – with his first-class average standing at 26.56 after 24 games.
New Gloucestershire head coach Dale Benkenstein is eager to see the teenager in action, confident he will add a point of difference to the bowling attack. The former Hampshire coach also believes Naseem's stint in Bristol, which will see him play all formats before likely returning to international duty in June, will aid the quick's development in English conditions.
"When you look at any County Championship games over my time playing," Benkenstein said, "You look at the teams that are winning and the players that are making those winning contributions, they are always international quality players, whether they are international players or the new up-and-coming English players that are now starting to mature.
"Those international-quality performances are what makes the difference, and to have Naseem, now that some of them have seen him bowling rapid to the Aussies, not only gives our team confidence but it also has an effect on what people produce against us.
"We don’t have him for the whole year, but I am hoping he has a massive impact and I’m hoping we can help him because the conditions over here are very different and there is a different ball. Even though he is an international, he is fairly inexperienced in these conditions so there is a bit of learning from what he brings."
Gloucestershire have also bolstered their ranks with the signing of Australian top-order batsman Marcus Harris, part of the winning Ashes side in the winter.
The 29-year-old has joined on a two-year deal after an impressive stint with Leicestershire last season, averaging 54.58 with three tons to his name.
However, he will miss the season opener at Northants due to his involvement in the Sheffield Shield final in his homeland. Harris is due to open the batting for Victoria against his home state of Western Australia at the WACA on Thursday, which rules him out until the visit of Yorkshire to the County Ground on April 14.
However, the situation has been complicated by Harris returning a positive COVID-19 test on his return from Australia's series in Pakistan. He continues to test daily and has not been ruled out of the Shield final yet and Gloucestershire will hope it does not delay his arrival further.
Benkenstein told Bristol Live he expects Harris to set the tone at the top of the order and continue his fine form from last season's County Championship.
"Bowling is obviously really important, but you’ve got to get those runs on the board," Benkenstein said. "He is in the final in Oz, so he will miss that first game, but once he’s here we have him for most of the season.
"A good signing. What I am impressed about is he is an international player, an Australian, and some of them really struggle when they come over here. But you’ve seen what he did last year in English conditions.
"He is obviously good enough to adapt. He did well for Leicestershire and he did really well in the game here, I think he got a hundred. He’s a good signing and he seems like a pretty good bloke."
