Kent Cricket have announced the signing of off-spinner Hamidullah Qadri on a 3 year deal from the 2020 season.

Born in Afghanistan but raised in Derby, Qadri made his first-class debut for Derbyshire at the age of 16 in 2017, recording his career best bowling figures of 5/60 in his second innings against Glamorgan.

Now 18, Qadri has taken 23 first-class wickets in ten matches so far. Touted as a star of the future, he made his England Under 19s debut in August 2017, and has now made 19 appearances for various England youth teams to date, taking 23 wickets. His career best figures for England Young Lions came in August this year against India Under 19s, where he took five wickets for 61 runs.

On joining Kent Cricket, Qadri said: “I’m really excited to have the opportunity to play Division One first-class cricket here at Kent. I have only heard good things about the setup here and when Kent asked about my availability, it was a very attractive offer and one that I couldn’t turn down.”

Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said: “Hamid is an excellent prospect and we’re delighted to secure his services. He’s a self-taught natural spinner of the ball who has impressed at all levels. Working with the England Young Lions spin coach and our new Head of Talent Pathway, Min Patel, he is the Young Lions’ leading spinner. With the chance to continue working with Min, and also with James Tredwell in the winter, we believe he will continue to develop into a really exciting cricketer. We have a number of talented young players here at Kent and Hamid adds to that talent pool.”​