Saeed Ajmal form crucial for Worcestershire county

LONDON: Director of cricket Steve Rhodes believes its vital Worcestershire county capitalises on Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal's spell at the club before he returns to international duty in late August.

Ajmal made his first Division One County Championship appearance for Pears this week against Yorkshire at Scarborough, having already played a big part in keeping alive Worcestershire's hopes of qualifying for FL T20 quarterfinals.

A lot will now depend on how he performs in four day form of game if Worcestershire are to retain their Division One status.

But with Ajmal due to miss Worcestershire's final three championship games due to Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe, Rhodes knows much will be riding on how quickly the spinner can make an impact in the championship.

"He leaves us before last three games to go to Zimbabwe with Pakistan and it's important for us we try and pick up some victories while he is here," Rhodes said.

"We've seen already what a wonderful bowler he is and he is going to be quite important to us in four day game as well. Good thing about Saeed, like Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, is that they are very potent on anything that is produced. They were mystery spinners and he is a magician with the ball.

"He's here to win games for us and prove to a lot of people in the county game that he is a top class spinner like Murali and Warne. He'll want to bowl as many overs as he can and take as many wickets as he can. He is such a lovely guy, a whole hearted guy who plays the game with a smile on his face," Rhodes added.

Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2011