Strabane Cricket Club has announced the signing of former Pakistan Test star Faisal Iqbal as their overseas professional for the new season as the 2009/10 champions look to put a disappointing campaign behind them this coming summer.

The new man is a 31-year old top order batsman and medium pace bowler and boasts quite a decent pedigree on the International stage. Iqbal, the nephew of Javed Miandad has played 18 ODI's for his country, the final one back in 2006 however the last of his 26 Test appearances was as recent as January 2010 when Pakistan toured Australia.

The player boasts almost 10,000 first class runs on top of his International efforts but will have a job on his hands to emulate the success of Jonathan Beukes at the Tyrone club.

The South African was one of the backbones of Strabane's recent title winning campaigns scoring 5219 runs in his 5 seasons here and former skipper Peter Gillespie had mixed emotions when speaking about the change in personnel.

"Jonno was brilliant for us and was a real class act when at the top of his form so I'm disappointed that he won't be coming back. Obviously Faisal has a proven International track record so we're also looking forward to what he will bring to the club and hopeful that he can help us challenge for honours again this summer".

The Pakistani player is expected to arrive in Ireland prior to the start of the season while it is believed that Beukes is being courted by at least one club in Leinster.