Worcestershire’s dynamic batter, Kashif Ali, has signed a contract extension until the end of the 2027 season and is focused on helping the County establish themselves in Division One of the Vitality County Championship.
Kashif was in the final year of his current contract but has put pen to paper for a further three years.
He has followed Club Captain, Brett D’Oliveira, opener Jake Libby, pace bowler Adam Finch and all-rounder Joe Leach who have signed new contacts since the end of last season.
Kashif became the first member of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to sign a contract for a first class county when he joined Worcestershire in 2022.
He has made impressive strides forward in red ball and white ball cricket during the past two seasons and demonstrated his huge potential.
Last summer he produced one of the most destructive knocks seen in the Metro Bank One Day Cup when he smashed 88 off 36 balls against Derbyshire at the Incora County Ground.
Kashif then showed his capabilities in four-day cricket with a superb 93 in the promotion clinching final game in the County Championship against Yorkshire at Headingley.
He said: “I want to keep on improving and believe that can happen at Worcestershire to whom I will always be grateful for giving me a chance in first class cricket.
“The aim is to be at the top of my game and be as consistent as possible in all formats and kick on as much as possible during the next four years.
“But the initial aim is to try and play as big a part as possible in helping the team establish themselves in Division One of the County Championship.
“It was a great effort to go up, and demonstrated what we are capable of, but in fairness we performed well in all formats.
“We played with a positive mindset and I’m sure that will again be the case this season. There are a lot of good teams and players in Division One but we will be up for the challenge.”
Kashif has spent the winter playing and training in Pakistan.
He said: “You can’t beat playing regularly and I always try to improve all aspects of my game when I go away and to make sure I’m ready and hopefully firing when I return to Worcestershire.”
Worcestershire CEO, Ashley Giles, said: “It’s brilliant that this year we have signed up before the start of the season all the players we feel can have a big role to play over the next few years.
“Kashif’s emergence over the past two seasons has highlighted the important role that SACA plays in the development and re-emergence of players and we also have high hopes of Yadvinder Singh.
“Kashif has taken his chance with both hands and some of his knocks, particularly the one at Derby in the One Day Cup, are great to watch and really excite spectators.”
Head Coach, Alan Richardson, echoed Ashley Giles sentiments.
He said: “Great news about Kashif and we’ve got a bit more stability at the club in terms of what we are trying to do long term and trying to show how much we value our players and are willing to invest in them for long periods of time.
“By them signing, they are also showing a huge level of commitment as well which is great. And we’ve seen from Kash, some really exciting stuff.
“He is someone who lives and breathes the game, who wants to get better, has a real thirst for things.
“I’ve watched a lot of cricket now and the knock at Derby felt like one of the best white ball innings I’ve ever seen.”
