Worcestershire Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes and captain Daryl Mitchell have praised the contribution – on and off the field – of Saeed Ajmal and both would be delighted if the spin wizard was able to return for a further spell at New Road.
Ajmal has taken 46 wickets in eight LV = County Championship matches, including the current game with Glamorgan, and also been a big influence on the other players including England's latest century hero Moeen Ali.
The Pakistan spin star has already intimated he would be willing to come back if he was offered the opportunity although Worcestershire recognise they would need permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board for any such move to happen.
When told that Ajmal would be happy to play again for Worcestershire, Rhodes said: "We would love to have him so that's a good start for negotiations isn't it.
"But he has proved again what a good bowler he is. It's not just a one man effort but we all know he has played a major part in the victories and where we are at the moment.
"We talked between ourselves and Mitch talks to him and we both know the situation.
"But we've not actually sat down with the agent. There is lots of water to pass under the bridge regarding the Pakistan Cricket Board as well.
"Obviously he is centrally contracted to Pakistan and he is their player.
"But we will take it one stage at a time. We've got nearly another three weeks with Saeed and we are looking forward to that time he has with us and hopefully he will keep performing. We can then have some negotiations with the agent."
On hearing of Ajmal's willingness to return, Mitchell said: "Sign him up, give him a three year deal, sign him up for as long as you can!
"There is no-one else like him in the world and we are very lucky to have him, not only on the field but the work he does with Moeen and some of the younger batters on playing spin as well.
"The influence he has in the dressing room, you can't measure it so we'll have him for as many years as we possibly can, simple as that.
"He loves his cricket first and foremost and he loves winning. He has been a real influence on everyone here and he's a real winner when he gets on that field and wants to perform as well as he can."
