County stars to earn BPL stripes

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After a trip to Sri Lanka with the England Lions, Jos Buttler will play in the Bangladesh Premier League for Khulna Royal Bengals

Peter Trego and Jos Buttler are among a host of county players that have been signed to feature in the Bangladesh Premier League.

The Somerset duo have both been purchased in the bidding auction and will play in the six-franchise Twenty20 competition that starts on February 9.

Trego, who has also represented his county in the Champions League T20, England in the Hong Kong Sixes and Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe’s Stanbic Bank T20 this winter, continues his globetrotting off-season after signing for Sylhet Royals.

And Buttler, part of England Lions’ limited-overs tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, has linked up with Khulna Royal Bengals.

Trego, currently representing Abahani in Bangladesh’s domestic 50-over tournament, is excited about the prospect of facing team-mate Buttler.

“Jos and myself both got bought in the BPL auction which is fantastic news as the tournament is full of all the superstar T20 players,” he told Somerset’s official website.

“I’m really proud to be involved, flying the flag for Somerset. The only downside is that I’ll have to do battle with Jos as he was signed to a different team but I’m sure it will be a great experience to play against such a good friend and colleague!”

Lancashire spinner Gary Keedy has also been successful in his quest for a contract and will join Trego at Sylhet, hoping to gain some valuable match practice ahead of the 2012 season.

"I could have stayed here and bowled in the indoor nets or go to Bangladesh and play in a top competition. It was an easy decision," Keedy told Lancashire’s official website.

"Whenever I have gone away to play overseas at this time of year, it has always benefited me when the season here starts."

Buttler will be joined at Khulna by Northamptonshire and Ireland wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O’Brien, while Kyle Coetzer will represent Chittagong Kings and Hampshire all-rounder Sean Ervine will ply his trade with Duronto Rajshahi.

The Dhaka Gladiators have a trio of county performers in their ranks with the signings of evergreen Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens, Worcestershire and Netherlands batsman Alexei Kervezee and Sussex seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

Nasir Hossain was the highest paid homegrown player, while West Indies’ duo Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard will also feature in addition to Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal.