Ali coup for Wellington

Wellington Cricket Club have pulled off a real coup by securing the signature of Gloucestershire opener Kadeer Ali.

The 25-year-old will make his debut for the Orleton Park men in their Birmingham Midshires League division one derby at home to Shrewsbury tomorrow (1pm).

Kadeer is the cousin of Worcestershire and England star Kabir Ali, while his brother Moeen Ali bats at No 3 for the Pears.

He played for England under-19s and began his First Class career at Worcestershire before making the move to Gloucestershire in 2005.

He has now made 66 First Class appearances, hitting three centuries and 18 fifties and has an average of 26.49.

But he has recently been sidelined by a broken finger and his county have farmed him out to Wellington in order to rediscover his touch.

Each side in the Birmingham League is allowed one player who is contracted to a First Class county, and Wellington were one of only a handful who had not been able to get one on board.

“It’s nice to be given the opportunity to have a contracted player and he actually contacted us,” said the club’s chairman of cricket Adam Byram. “He was given the choice of clubs without a contracted player in the top two divisions and he chose us.

“He’s usually in the first team at Gloucestershire but he’s had a broken finger and he’s only just come back to fitness.

“How often he can play for us really depends on his form and whether he gets back into the first team at Gloucestershire.”

Bristol-based Kadeer’s last outing for the West Countrymen came in April this season when he played in the County Championship division two clash with Derbyshire.

But he didn’t have the best of matches, getting out for a golden duck in the first innings and hit just six second time around.