EMBARGO: Footitt joins Derbyshire on loan deal

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Nottinghamshire's left-arm fast bowler Mark Footitt has joined Derbyshire on an initial 28-day loan deal where he will be available to play Specsavers County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup cricket.

The 32-year-old, who spent six seasons with Derbyshire between 2010 and 2015, is earmarked for two four-day matches and five 50-over games, starting against Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Thursday.

"Mark's pre-season has been affected by injury and we feel it's a good opportunity for him to get out there and get some cricket under his belt," said Nottinghamshire'd director of cricket Mick Newell.

"Our pace attack has started the season in fine form and Mark has found himself short of game time so far. Hopefully he can get some overs under his belt and come back ready to go when the season ramps up from June onwards."

The move suits Derbyshire who have fielded a high-class pace attack this season in three bowlers with international experience - Duanne Olivier, Ravi Rampaul and Hardus Viljoen - but who have limited stocks in reserve and fear the danger of overbowling their prize assets as a conequence.

Derbyshire's cricket advisor, Kim Barnett, said: "We're grateful to Nottinghamshire and Peter Moores for allowing Mark to join us for this busy period, and I'm sure this arrangement will be good for all parties."

This move for Footitt is not as angst-ridden as the last, involving just a few miles up the A52. He admitted that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders when Surrey gave him permission to return to Nottinghamshire in the middle of last season on a two-and-a-half year deal. The strain of hotel living, away from his fianc and daughter in London had become too much.

Footitt has travelled this way before. He first joined Derbyshire in 2009 after Nottinghamshire released him from his contract as injuries bedevilled his early career. He became a firm favourite at Derbyshire, taking 82 County Championship wickets in 2014. He moved south to Surrey, fired by England ambitions, and came close to a Test debut when he was chosen for the South Africa tour of 2015/16 but never played.

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Derbyshire sign Wahab for the Blast as he seeks to rebuild Pakistan career

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Derbyshire have agreed the signing of Wahab Riaz for this summer's Vitality T20 Blast, an undertaking which the player hopes will help end his exile from the Pakistan side.

Wahab, 32, has not played for Pakistan since a Test against Sri Lanka in Dubai last October and was pointedly criticised by their coach, Mickey Arthur, when he was excluded from a training squad ahead of the forthcoming tour of England for which he has not been selected. Arthur rubbished Wahab's work ethic in training and remarked that "he has not won us a game in two years."

But Derbyshire believe they have secured a matchwinner, confidence that has grown further by the news that Wahab underwent surgery at the weekend for a long-standing sinus problem.

Wahab will be available for the bulk of Derbyshire's fixtures, leaving in early August for the Caribbean Premier League where he will join Barbados Tridents.

His T20 record remains an impressive one. He finished the joint leading wicket-taker in the PSL with Faheem Asraf when he took 18 wickets for Peshewar Zalmi at an economy rate of less than seven an over. In all, he has taken 197 wickets in 167 T20 matches at an average of 7.11.

Derbyshire reached the quarter-finals of the Blast under the guidance last season of their specialist T20 coach, John Wright and Wahab's proven ability, and his reputation for turning matches with hot spells, will lift their confidence that a repeat is not beyond them.

Whether Wahab can re-energise his Pakistan career under Arthur's coaching tenure remains open to doubt.

Arthur, like many before him, is seeking "a high-performance culture within the Pakistan squad" and told ESPNcricinfo: "I expect players that have been around for a long time to be winning us games and setting standards . The guys need to push themselves and get out of their comfort zones."

"I cannot fault Wahab when he has a ball in his hand but his work ethic around training is something [that] needs to be looked at. I am changing the culture in this Pakistan environment and I am not interested in players doing just the bare minimum."

Even during his last Test, against Sri Lanka in Dubai, Wahab wrecked the top order and nearly transformed a Test that had seemed lost. But the last time he played an ODI was nearly a year ago in India during the Champions Trophy when he returned galling figures of 8.4-0-87-0.

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