Foxes worked hard to secure Nabi - Nixon

Leicestershire CCC Head Coach Paul Nixon feels that the signing of Afghanistan's World Cup qualifying hero Mohammad Nabi is testament to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at the club.

Nabi has played a key role in Afghanistan's dramatic qualification for the ICC World Cup in England in 2019, scoring 264 runs in seven matches at 37.71 while taking 12 wickets at 22.58 apiece.

Afghanistan lost their first three matches but a win against Nepal took them through to the Super Sixes and tremendous victories followed against West Indies, United Arab Emirates and Ireland.

Nabi's all-round skills have come to the fore, as demonstrated with a top score of 92 and best figures of 4 for 33.

“We’ve done a lot of due diligence on the signing,” said Nixon. “We’ve had a lot of conversations and worked hard to bring in the right person and we feel that Nabi is exactly the sort of cricketer that we were looking for.

“Carl Crowe is our Head Scout as well as Spin Bowling Coach and has done a lot of research to help find us the right player. Nabi’s been the one player that has produced the goods with both bat and ball.

"It's been great to see him performing well on the world stage with Afghanistan getting stronger and stronger as the qualifying tournament progressed in Zimbabwe."

The all-rounder first came on to the scene as a bowler but has also carved out a reputation for clean striking and a cool head under pressure with the bat.

Nixon said: “Nabi first caught my eye in the Caribbean Premier League in being a guy that bowled beautifully. He’s not a tall guy but very skilful and clever, finding an answer on every single pitch that we played on. 

“But we are getting a three-dimensional cricketer for sure. His batting strike rate is just under 140 and he averages 21, which to have maintained over 160 games is so consistent. It is exceptional for somebody who started primarily as a bowler. 

“We’ve kept an eye on him for a while. Carl [Crowe] is a former Leicestershire player who bowled spin, has coached for the ECB and been involved in some of the major T20 tournaments across the world, like the IPL. Nabi has been on Carl’s radar too so it’s nice to put our heads together and come up with the right recipe.”

Nixon revealed that a key part in Nabi’s signing was assessing the statistical data as well as watching video footage and calling on the vast knowledge of the club’s coaching staff. It is a combination of sources that the Head Coach feels has worked well.

“Cricket has generally been judged in terms of averages but things have changed in the era of T20 cricket,” said Nixon.

“In terms of rating performance, for batting we add the average and strike rate together, and a figure of anything over 145 is good while 155 is exceptional. Nabi is somebody who averages above that despite being able to get in a team for his bowling alone. It shows that he is a class act.

“Wickets are always important, but economy rate is a huge part of bowling and Nabi has demonstrated an ability to keep the runs down in international cricket and big worldwide tournaments. 

“As overseas pro, he will also be able to provide knowledge to our young spinners here alongside Carl [Crowe]. We have lots of spin bowling options which is great to have complimenting the seamers.”

* Follow The Foxes this summer and see Mohammad Nabi in action at the Fischer County Ground! Tickets for our opening fixture against Durham Jets on Friday, July 6 cost just £10 for adults! Tickets for all of the Foxes' seven home Vitality Blast games in 2018 are now on sale HERE