16 English cricketers to star in PSL 2024

BIRMINGHAM: About 16 English cricketers will be starring in the ninth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), including some of the biggest names who have performed consistently not only in domestic tournaments — T20 Blast and The Hundred — but also in T20 leagues around the globe.

Many of them have been appearing regularly in the previous editions of the PSL. However, some of the big names will miss out on the upcoming edition due to England's ongoing tour of India for the Test series as well as injuries.

Moreover, not all of those English players will feature in the whole tournament as some of them are set to miss the initial few games due to their commitments with the national team and the ongoing ILT20 in the UAE.

The month-long tournament, which is now regarded as one of the biggest T20 cricket festivals in the world, is set to start on February 17 (tomorrow).

English players who will feature in this edition of the PSL are Alex Hales, Jason Roy, David Malan, James Vince, Will Smeed, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tymal Mills, Dan Lawrence, and Chris Jordan. 

David Wiley, Jordon Cox, Luke Wood, Laurie Evans, Gus Atkinson, James Overton, and Dan Mousley will also play in this edition.

Players like Hales, Vince, Malan, Mills, Jordan, and Roy have featured many times in the earlier editions of the tournament.

Peshawar Zalmi have signed the most English players, four in total, while Islamabad United, Multan Sultans, and Quetta Gladiators have three English players in their squad, each. 

Two English cricketers will be starring for Karachi Kings. Defending champions Lahore Qalandars have signed only one Englishman in their squad.

Six of those players are from Surrey CCC while two players are from Somerset CCC. One player each from Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire counties are also featuring in this year’s edition of the PSL.

Peshawar Zalmi

Four English cricketers will feature in the Peshawar Zalmi in this year’s edition of the PSL. 

Zalmi have picked Tom Kohler-Cadmore again this year in the Diamond category. The player will feature for the fourth time in PSL. He played for Peshawar Zalmi in 2022 and 2023 and for Quetta Gladiators in the 2018 edition of the PSL.

Warwickshire’s all-rounder Dan Mousley was picked in the silver category. Off-spinner Mousley who has been performing consistently with both bat and ball in the last couple of seasons will feature for the first time in the PSL.

Lancashire’s left-arm pacer Luke Wood was picked in the supplementary category while Surrey and England’s young pace sensation Gus Atkinson was picked in the replacement draft. After Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, Atkinson is another English pacer who can consistently bowl around the 150Kph mark.

Islamabad United

Three English cricketers will feature for Islamabad United in this edition of PSL. Top of the list is dashing opener Alex Hales who’s picked in the Gold category. 

T20 World Cup winner Hales from Nottinghamshire CCC, who announced his retirement from international cricket, played for United in 2018, 2019, and 2021 and for Karachi Kings in 2020. 

Last season he re-joined United and decided to skip England’s tour of Bangladesh in March 2023 to participate in the PSL. This will be his sixth appearance in the league.

Other English players who will feature for Islamabad United include Jordan Cox (Kent) and Tymal Mills (Sussex).

Pacer Mills who’s picked in the Diamond category is also featuring for the sixth time in this tournament. He has earlier played for Quetta Gladiators in 2017 and 2020, for Karachi Kings in 2018, for Peshawar Zalmi in 2019 and for United in 2022.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jordon Cox was picked up again this year by Islamabad United in the Platinum category.

Multan Sultans

Sultans which didn’t sign even a single English cricketer last year have signed three for this season. Initially, Multan Sultans had picked four English cricketers but fast bowler Richard Gleason of Lancashire failed to obtain NOC from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) due to an injury rehabilitation.

Three others who will star for Sultans in PSL 9 are Dawid Malan, David Willey and Chris Jordan.

Yorkshire’s Malan who’s picked in the Diamond category will feature for the fifth time in the PSL. He earlier played in 2016, 2017 and 2019 for Peshawar Zalmi and for Islamabad United in 2020. 

All-rounder Willey who was recently appointed to lead Northamptonshire was picked up in the platinum category by Sultans. Willey, the son of former English test umpire Peter Willey, has also played for Multan Sultans in the 2022 season.

Surrey’s Jordan, who was picked up by the Sultans in the supplementary pick, is also one of the players who has regularly featured in the PSL. He also represented Peshawar Zalmi in 2017-2019 as well as Karachi Kings in 2020 and 2022.

Quetta Gladiators

Gladiators have again retained exciting English opener Jason Roy in the Diamond category. Roy, who's renowned for his flamboyant style of batting, played for Quetta Gladiators in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023 tournaments while he was part of the Lahore Qalandars squad in 2017. 

Last year, Surrey CCC’s Roy shattered records by scoring by scoring 143 runs off just 63 deliveries against Peshawar Zalmi. In a sensational display of hitting Roy smashed 20 fours and 5 sixes to make bit only his highest score in T20 cricket but also the highest individual score ever in the PSL's history.

Quetta Gladiators have also retained Smeed in the Silver category. Somerset’s Smeed, who played for the first time in the PSL in 2022, will be in Gladiator’s squad for the third consecutive edition. 

Surrey's Laurie Evans was picked by Gladiators in the supplementary category. He earlier retired from the PSL back in 2019 when he was picked by Multan Sultans.

Karachi Kings

English opener Vince has been picked by Karachi Kings once again in the Diamond category. He will be part of the PSL for the fifth time. Vince featured for Kings in 2016, Multan Sultans in 2019 and Quetta Gladiators in 2022.

The other English cricketer signed by Karachi Kings is fast bowler Jamie Overton of Surrey who was picked in the supplementary category.

Lahore Qalandars

Defending champion Lahore Qalandars have signed one English player for this year’s PSL compared to last year’s three. Surrey CCC’s captain Dan Lawrence was picked by Qalandars in the silver category. However, due to his sudden call-up in the English Test squad for the tour of India, he’s set to miss at least the February leg of the PSL. Lawrence was signed by Quetta Gladiators as a supplementary pick in PSL 7.

PSL 2023 opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of PSL 2023 will be held in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday 17 February before the tournament opener between host and defending champions Lahore Qalandars and former champions Islamabad United. 

In total, 34 matches will be played over the period of 31 days in the tournament which will conclude on March 18 when the final will be played in Lahore.