Lindal Moor have signed Pakistani all-rounder Haseeb Azam to be their overseas player for the 2020 Cumbria Cricket League season.

The brother of Pakistan international Hammad Azam has played in 54 first-class matches in his career and he replaces Sri Lanka’s Janith de Silva, who impressed with bat and ball during his one season at Pennington Lane.

This will be the 33-year-old’s second stint playing in Cumbria, having previously appeared for Cockermouth, while he has also played for Bacup in the Lancashire League, Benswill Hill in the North East Premier League and Waringstown in Northern Ireland.

Azam arrives back in England with an impressive record in Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, where he has taken 199 wickets for Rawalpindi at a very good average of 21.37.

That includes nine five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket match hauls, with his best figures in an innings coming in 2018 when he took 6-29 against Karachi White.

He also has a first-class century to his name and has passed 50 on seven other occasions and it was during the 2018/19 season that he proved particular successful, as he took 32 wickets at an average of 15.18 and hit 288 runs at 32.

Coronavirus permitting, Lindal Moor are due to get their Cumbria League season under way with a home game against Wigton on Saturday, April 18.