Birmingham Bears rope in Dominic Drakes for T20 Blast closing stages

London [UK], June 30 (ANI): Birmingham Bears on Friday announced that they have secured West Indian fast bowler Dominic Drakes for the remainder of the Vitality T20 Blast campaign.

The left-armer, who will be available for Sunday’s home fixture against Durham plus the quarter-final and Finals Day if qualified, replaces Hassan Ali as the Bears’ second overseas. Ali is due to leave for Karachi on Sunday, having been selected for the Pakistan Test squad which departs for Sri Lanka on July 9.

Drakes will be a familiar name to Bears fans, with Vaspert, Dominic’s father, making 32 appearances for Warwickshire across First Class and List A cricket in 2001.

Born in Barbados, the 25-year-old has already clocked significant air miles through international and franchise cricket.

A regular in the Caribbean Premier League with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, the seamer has made ten ODI and two T20 appearances for his national side, taking eight wickets.

Drakes enjoyed county cricket last year, making five T20 and County Championship appearances for Yorkshire.

During the Blast, Drakes was part of the Vikings team that reached Finals Day, taking two of his 10 wickets at Edgbaston.

“I can’t wait to link up with the squad ahead of what’s an exciting time for the club. The team have shown to be one of the strongest in the competition and I’m looking forward to adding to their initial success in the closing stages,” Birmingham Bears quoted Drakes as saying in an official statement.

“I love playing in big crowds and having the opportunity to play in a quarterfinal, plus the chance to go one step further to Finals Day is exciting,” he added.

“We’re really pleased to welcome Dominic to the squad. Dominic loves the big stage and is comfortable taking the ball in the powerplay and high-pressure moments,” Performance Director Gavin Larsen said.

“As a left-armer, Dominic will add something different to our pace attack and we can’t wait to see how he fares before the quarter-final,” Larsen added.