County side Glamorgan County Cricket Club have announced the signing of Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi for the upcoming T20 Blast, strengthening their pace attack ahead of the new season. Farooqi, who emerged as one of the standout performers at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 where he finished as joint-highest wicket-taker, continues to build a strong reputation in the shortest format. He has prior experience in English cricket, having featured for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and franchise side Manchester Originals. Glamorgan’s director of cricket Mark Wallace praised the signing, highlighting Farooqi’s growing stature in T20 cricket. He noted that the left-arm seamer would bring a potent wicket-taking option with the new ball along with valuable death-bowling skills in the closing stages of innings. Wallace also pointed out that Farooqi will be the club’s first-ever Afghan overseas player. The Welsh side, who have not reached the knockout stages of the T20 Blast since 2017, have been active in the transfer market. Batter Sean Dickson has joined from Somerset County Cricket Club, while Australian seamer Nathan McAndrew is also set to link up with the squad as an overseas signing. In addition, Glamorgan confirmed that Ryan Hadley will feature in the first six matches of the County Championship season. The New South Wales and Australia A pacer is expected to help fill the void left by the retirement of James Harris. Wallace added that the club has been closely monitoring Hadley’s development in Australia and believes his skillset will add further depth to their bowling attack early in the campaign. Glamorgan head into the new season with renewed optimism, having secured promotion to Division One of the County Championship for the first time since 2005 following a strong finish last year.