Hurricanes re-sign Afghan excitement machine following brilliant BBL|08 cameo

He set the Big Bash alight in his brief stint last summer and the Hurricanes are confident he can have a similar impact in a full season in purple in this year’s tournament.

Qais Ahmad celebrates a wicket during last year’s Big Bash league. Picture: AAP

EXCITEMENT machine Qais Ahmad is officially back in purple for BBL|09 and the Hurricanes are confident their strike spinner will be just as effective as his stunning debut performances.

The Afghani teenager, who turns 19 in two weeks, featured in Hobart’s last three matches last summer as a replacement for Johan Botha, who retired suddenly towards the end of the tournament.

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Ahmad snared seven wickets in his three appearances — nearly dragging the Hurricanes across the line in the semi-final defeat against the Melbourne Stars when he removed Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson — to become an instant cult hero.

Qais Ahmad will return for the Hurricanes for BBL|09. Picture: AAP

Although some of the mystery surrounding his bowling has been removed, Hobart coach Adam Griffith is backing the crafty leg spinner to still bamboozle opposition batsmen.

“He will be good, he only played against a couple of teams and people can watch on video all they want but he didn’t actually play against too many of the guys,” Griffith said.

“We are really confident he will have the same impact he did in those couple of games he played last year.

“We were really happy with him, not only with what he gave us on the field but he was really good off it.

“He is a lovely young man who trains hard and gives us everything he has got.”

Ahmad finished with a match haul of 10 wickets recently for Afghanistan A in the first Test of its unofficial series against Bangladesh A.

The Hurricanes hope Ahmad’s wizardry and the growing strength of D’Arcy Short’s left-arm leg spin, alongside emerging local off spinner Jarrod Freeman, covers all bases in the slow bowling department.

“Having a right arm leg spinner like Qais is really important to hopefully complement the left arm leg spin of D’Arcy,” Griffith said.

“He showed some really good stuff last year for us as well and young Freeman on the list, we think we have our bases really well covered.”

The signing of Ahmad locks away the Hurricanes’ two import slots, although Jofra Archer is expected to be made unavailable by England due to international commitments.

Griffith confirmed contingency plans are in place for a replacement.