Record number of English cricketers to star in PSL 2022

BIRMINGHAM: A record number of English cricketers will be starring in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022.

As many as 23 players from England will be in action in this year’s edition of the PSL, including some of the big names who have performed consistently not only in international T20 competitions but also in the domestic “T20 Blast” and the inaugural edition of the “The Hundred” tournaments. Many of those players have also appeared regularly in the earlier editions of PSL.

Players who will be featuring in this edition of the PSL are Jason Roy, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, James Vince, Saqib Mahmood, Alex Hales, Phil Slat, Samit Patel, Lewis Gregory, Reece Topley, Joe Clark and Harry Brooks.

Ben Duckett, Luke Wood, Dan Lawrence, Jordon Thompson, Tom Lommonby, David Willey, Mathew Potts, Will Smeed, Pat Brown, Matt Parkinson and Tom-Kohler Cadmore will also feature in this year’s tournament which is due to start January 27.

The tournament, which is now regarded as one of the biggest T20 cricket festivals, is set to last for a month. But not all of the English players will feature for the whole tournament as some are replacing their fellow countrymen who are unavailable to make it for the first few matches of the tournament due to England’s T20I series against West Indies.

Quetta Gladiators have signed the most English players, six in total, while Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi have five English players in their squad, each. Four English cricketers will star for Lahore Qalandars, Islamabad United picked two and Multan Sultans have signed just one Englishman in their teams for this year’s tournament.

Four players each from Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire counties while three players from Somerset have been signed for the PSL 7. Two players from Surrey, two from Sussex and one player each from Durham, Essex, Worcestershire and Hampshire counties are also featuring in this year’s edition of the PSL.

Players like Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, James Vince, Chris Jordan, Phil Salt, Harry Brook and Reece Topley will miss the first few games in the tournament as they are part of the English squad touring West Indies for the T20I series.

Below is the complete details of which English player will star for which PSL franchise this year.

Quetta Gladiators

Gladiators who had just one English player in their squad in the last edition of PSL signed six English cricketers for this year’s edition.

Quetta Gladiators have picked the dashing English opener Jason Roy in the platinum category. Roy, who’s renowned for his flamboyant style of batting at top of the order, also featured for Quetta Gladiators in 2018 and 2020 tournaments while he was also part of Lahore Qalandars in the 2017 edition.

Another singing for Quetta in the Platinum category is another English opener, James Vince. Vince, who plays for Hampshire successfully, captained “Southern Braves” to victory in the inaugural tournament of “The Hundred” last year. He also scored a match-winning century against Pakistan at Edgbaston in the third ODI of the series. Previously, James Vince represented Karachi Kings in 2016 and Multan Sultans 2020-2021.

Wicket-keeper batsman Ben Duckett of Nottinghamshire and left-arm quick Luke Wood of Lancashire have been picked by Gladiators in the silver category. Luke Wood was named to replace Naveen ul Haq who opted to play for BPL. Young opening batter Will Smeed from Somerset and test bat Amna Dan Lawrence from Essex will be replacing James Vince and Jason Roy in the crust few games of the PSL 7.

Karachi Kings

Compared to last year when only one Englishman was part of the Kings’ squad, five English players have been picked by Karachi Kings in this years PSL, including pacer Chris Jordan who’s been retained in the Platinum category. Jordan has been regularly starring in the PSL who previously was part of Peshawar Zalmi’s squad. Chris Jordan who plays for Sussex domestically has been the lead fast bower for England in the T20Is.

Lewis Gregory was picked by Karachi Kings in the Diamond category. Gregory 29, who plays for Somerset, made his ODI debut against Pakistan when they visited England in the summer of 2021 leading the English pace bowling attack along with Saqib Mahmood.

Nottinghamshire’s wicketkeeper-batsman Joe Clark who was picked in the Gold category by Kings is also their Brand Ambassador for the tournament.

All-rounder Jordan Thomas from Yorkshire has been picked in the supplementary players’ category by Karachi Kings. Somerset’s Tom Lammonby has been signed by Kings to replace county fellow Tom Abell. Tom Abell, who played for Lahore Qalandars last year, was originally signed in the silver category by Kings for this edition but an injury sustained while playing for “Brisbane Heat” in the BBL forced him to withdraw from this year’s tournament.

Peshawar Zalmi

Five English players will also star for the Zalmis in this years PSL and among them is dashing batter Liam Livingstone, who’s been picked in the Platinum category. Livingstone also featured for Karachi Kings in 2019 and Peshawar Zalmi in 2020 editions. During the last year or so he has been in a sublime form both in domestic and international T20 cricket.

In 2021, Livingston scored a century in just 42 deliveries against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham which is the fastest by an Englishman in T20I cricket. His blistering form continued well into “The Hundred” tournament where he was on a rampage playing for “Birmingham Phoenix”. He hit 27 sixes including ten in just one match and ended up as the leading run-scorer, 348 in total. He also led Phoenix in the final only to lose against Southern Braves. Livingstone is also a useful spinner bowling both leg-breaks and off-breaks.

Fast bowler Saqib Mahmood has also been signed by Peshawar Zalmi again for this year. The Birmingham born British-Pakistani cricketer from Lancashire has been picked in the Gold category. Saqib, who also starred for Peshawar Zalmi in the 2019-20 season, has been named their “Brand Ambassador” too. Saqib Mahmood established himself as a world-class bowler when he led the English pace attack against visiting Pakistan in 2021, dismissing captain Babar Azam twice in three-match ODI series and was named player of the series.

Yorkshire’s wicket-keeper batsman Tom-Kohler Cadmore has been retained by Peshawar Zalmi in the Silver category. He previously represented Quetta Gladiators in PSL in 2018. Also signed by Zalmi are Lancashire’s leg spinner Matt Parkinson and Worcestshire pacer Pat Brown. Both will replace Liam Livingstone and Saqib Mahmood for the first few matches.

Lahore Qalandars

Qalandars have signed four English players for this years PSL, including Harry Brook in the Gold category. The all-rounder from Yorkshire made his first-class debut against Pakistan A in 2016 while he was still studying in school. Brooks has also captained England U19 in the U19 World Cup in 2018. In his absence during the first few matches, Durham’s all-rounder Matthew Potts will replace him in Qalandars’ squad.

Lahore Qalandars have also picked Welshman Phil Salt in the Gold category. Salt who plays for Sussex in the county championship also made his international debut against Pakistan in the ODI series in 2021. Previously Phil Salt represented Lahore Qalandars in the 2018 edition of PSL.

He was also part of Islamabad United’s squad for 2019-21 tournaments.

Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel has been retained by Lahore Qalandars in the supplementary category for this year. Samit Patel has been a regular in Pakistan Super League. Before featuring for Lahore Qalandars in the 2020-21 season, Samit was in the Islamabad United’s squad for 2018 & 2019 editions.

Islamabad United

Two English cricketers have been signed by Islamabad United for this years PSL, including Alex Hales in the Gold category. Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales who has previously starred in 2018-19 for United and 2020 by Karachi Kings was re-signed by Islamabad United in 2021. He has also been nominated as the team’s mentor.

The other English player to feature for United is left-arm seamer Reece Topley who’s been picked in the silver category.

Multan Sultans

Defending champion Multan Sultan have signed only one English cricket for this year’s PSL. Yorkshire and England’s all-rounder David Willey was picked in the supplementary players’ category. David Willey is the son of former international umpire Peter Willey.

The opening game of the PSL7 will be played at Karachi’s National Stadium between defending champions Multan Sultans and former champions Karachi Kings on January 27.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all the matches will be played at Karachi and Lahore with only 25% of the supporters allowed in the stadiums by the NCOC for the Karachi leg of the tournament. In total, 34 matches will be played during the month-long tournament which will conclude on February 27 with the final to be played in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.