Essex have snapped up Pakistan international paceman Wahab Riaz for a seven-match stint in this season's NatWest T20 Blast.
With 106 Twenty20 wickets to his name and previous spells at Kent and Surrey under his belt, Riaz is expected to provide an excellent source of white-ball scalps for the Eagles.
Riaz will be replaced by New Zealand's Adam Milne after his spell with the Chelmsford outfit, who were beaten quarter-finalists in last season's T20 campaign.
Essex head coach Chris Silverwood said: "We are pleased to have Wahab joining the squad for the first half of the NatWest T20 Blast season. He will add a different dimension to our bowling attack, being a left-armer and bowling with real pace.
"We are looking at this competition with confidence. We need to improve our performance from the past few seasons, and drive our limited-overs cricket forward. Wahab's signing helps us with this."
Riaz made his international debut for Pakistan in the shorter formats back in 2008, and first played a Test in 2010 on the tour of England.
The fiery left-armer made the headlines in early 2015 when his duel against Australia's Shane Watson thrilled crowds during Pakistan's World Cup quarter-final, while he also featured against England in last year's Test series in the United Arab Emirates.
Source: PA
