Yorkshire CCC sign Shai Hope adding overseas experience for start of County Championship campaign

Hope will play in the first three County Championship games, starting with tomorrow’s match against Leicestershire at Headingley.

Yorkshire swooped for the 29-year-old after club captain Shan Masood was ruled out after being selected for Pakistan’s up-coming white-ball fixtures against New Zealand.

Masood will miss the first four Championship matches after being picked in the squads for five T20s and five one-day internationals, running from April 14 to May 7.

Yorkshire had been trying to recruit Masood’s Pakistan colleague Saud Shakeel in time for the Leicestershire match, but, at the time of writing, the player was having problems obtaining a visa.

Hope, who has played 163 times for the West Indies in all formats, famously made history in 2017 when he became the first man to score two hundreds in a first-class match at Headingley, striking 147 and 118 not out in the Test against England.

Darren Gough, the Yorkshire managing director of cricket, said: “He is a great signing. He brings so much experience. One thing we are lacking is just a little bit of experience, so he just gives us that and comes into the squad for this first game.

“We felt we needed just the one experienced face in, and we went for Shai. He has been playing well for the West Indies in one-day matches, he has got a record of playing Test cricket, and he had his two hundreds at Headingley before for the West Indies.”

Hope arrives at Yorkshire straight from West Indies’ one-day series in South Africa, where he struck an unbeaten 128 in the opening fixture in East London.

“He just got home a few days ago, so it is a straight turn around,” added Gough. “He will have to adjust to playing red ball from white ball, but he is a fantastic player and it’s good to have someone of his quality to come in at short notice for three games.”