Five years after he had originally been scheduled to play for Nottinghamshire, Pakistan Test bowler Mohammad Abbas signed for the 2025 season.
The Covid pandemic meant that Abbas was unable to fulfil his plans to play at Trent Bridge in 2020 and in the interim he had successful seasons in county cricket with Hampshire.
He joined the playing staff at Notts initially for four matches but the Club were delighted to announce that he would be available for all the remaining championship fixtures. Abbas had enjoyed a storming start to his Nottinghamshire career, claiming 16 wickets in his first three matches at a miserly average of just 18.81.
Mohammad Abbas proved his value to his new home county in his first match – the home fixture against his previous employers, Hampshire. He ripped out the visitors’ middle order, taking batters 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 to take 5-31 as Notts secured a 366-run win.
In his first season at Trent Bridge, he finished with 32 wickets at 21.46, with two ‘five-fers’ and played a key role in Nottinghamshire’s first County Championship for fifteen years.
Born in Sialkot, Pakistan on 10 March 1990, Abbas has played 27 Tests, taking 100 wickets with five five-wicket hauls and one ‘ten fer’ in the Test against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2018. He has also played three ODIs for Pakistan.
Abbas has two previous stints at county cricket, earning a county cap at Leicestershire (2018-19) and at Hampshire (2021-24).
In his First-Class career, to the end of the domestic 2025 season, he had taken 807 wickets, with 49 five-wicket hauls, and ten wickets in a match a remarkable 13 times. He will no doubt look to add that fiftieth ‘five-fer’ when he resumes bowling.
It was announced during the 205/26 winter that Mohammad Abbas had signed for Derbyshire for the 2026 Championship.
Nottinghamshire First Class Number 681
October 2025
Mohammad Abbas's career stats (to date) can be seen here