BOLTON League side Little Lever are hoping former Pakistan and Surrey ace Saqlain Mushtaq can spin them to a shock victory over last season’s treble winners Walkden tomorrow.

The Victory Road side have snapped up the 32-year-old as a sub professional after running into visa problems for another Pakistani, Waqas Ahmed.

Mushtaq, who has taken nearly 500 international wickets for his country, is only stepping in for one game but his signing is a real coup for John Kerrigan’s men.

“Waqas gave us Saqlain’s number when he realised he couldn’t play himself, and we were delighted when we got him on board, “ said skipper Kerrigan.

“However, we are no strangers to playing with such quality because our professional last season, Nauman Ullah, has also played for Pakistan.

“Hopefully Saqlain will surprise Walkden and help us get off to a good start.”

Lever start their season one week late after competing in a round-robin tournament in Majorca last weekend, and Kerrigan says it was the perfect warm-up for the season ahead.

“It was a superb team-building excercise,” said Kerrigan, who has identified 17-year-old batsman Josh Gent as one to watch this season.

“It was all paid for by a friend of the club, and it is one of the best things that has happened to us for a long time.

“The cricket wasn’t a great standard, but it boosted team spirit – something that we wanted to improve.

“We’re looking forward to the season and, of course, we are aiming to win every game.

“We want a top-half finish as minimum and are quite hopeful of getting a Lancashire Knockout place.”

Little Lever are now waiting to see if Waqas Ahmed will be able to fulfill his professional contract with the club, but are making contingency plans if his work permit application is rejected.

“We hope we can get Waqas over,” added Kerrigan.

“He’s a good player and was top of the batting and bowling averages when he was playing in Scotland last year.”