Rana can’t wait to start play

10:16am Tuesday 20th May 2008

Yorkshire's overseas pace ace Rana Naved-ul-Hasan says he wants to add to his four-day medal tally with his new county.

The Pakistan quick bowler is in line to make his debut in tomorrow's County Championship clash with Surrey at the Oval.

He has moved north following three seasons with Sussex, where he picked up two Division One gongs.

In fact, he has moved back up north, having spent four years playing for Pudsey Congs in the Bradford League.

"I will try my best for Yorkshire. My aim is to win the Championship or any silverware," he said, having recently spent a brief spell playing in the rebel Indian Cricket League with the Lahore Badshahs.

Rana, 30, travelled with the Tykes to Edinburgh on Sunday - but only bowled in the nets.

He hit the headlines last September by ending his involvement with Sussex courtesy of a nasty dislocated shoulder while fielding on the boundary in a four-day game against Durham at the Riverside.

But he confirmed: "I bowled in the morning (in the nets), six or seven overs. I'm ready for four-day cricket."

Rana took 139 Championship wickets in his three years at Hove - and they would have re-signed him had the quota of two overseas players still been in place.

But Chris Adams and Mark Robinson, the former Yorkshire bowler who is now director of cricket at Surrey, opted to stick with the mercurial leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed. Sussex's loss will hopefully be Yorkshire's gain.

Rana is one of those players who seems to have been around for ever and a day. But for one reason or another he has only played nine Test matches for Pakistan, taking 18 wickets with a best of 3 for 30.

He has played 62 one-day internationals, with an impressive best of 6-27 against India at Jamshedphur in April, 2005.

In terms of the problematic shoulder, he continued: "The shoulder is good, very good. I feel fine, 100 per cent.

"This was the first time I got a major injury, the very worst injury of my career.

"But I'm fully fit now. I am about 85mph. Am I playing on Wednesday? Definitely, yes."

Rana flew in from Pakistan on Friday night - and Yorkshire's medical staff assessed him in Durham on Saturday.

Despite Rana's insistence on his readiness for an appearance at the Oval, Yorkshire, who are satisfied with his fitness, wanted to be completely sure by sending him for a final scan.

And he will have to be completely fit to perform on an Oval pitch famed for its batsman-friendly conditions.

Former England batsman Mark Ramprakash also goes in search of his 100th first-class hundred. He has two under his belt already this season.

Rana will almost certainly replace 19 year-old Ben Sanderson, who made his debut in the four-day defeat against Durham.

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