LONDON, Oct 27: Pakistan batsman Younis Khan is to join Yorkshire on a one-year contract for the 2007 English season, the English county said on Friday.

The 28-year-old, who led his country in the ICC Champions Trophy, will become the county's first Pakistani player when he joins in April, after next year's World Cup in the Caribbean.

Younis told Yorkshire's official website: “I know that players like Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard play at Yorkshire, and also legends such as Geoffrey Boycott and Sir Leonard Hutton played there.

“It will be an honour to follow these cricketers, and play at Headingley Carnegie.”

Younis has already enjoyed success at the Leeds ground, winning the Man-of-the-Match award in Pakistan's 167-run third Test defeat against England in August after scoring 173 in the tourists' first innings.

“Without doubt, Younis Khan is one of the leading batsmen in the world, and we are delighted to have secured his signature,” said Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan.

Yorkshire has the largest Pakistani population outside London in Britain, and Regan hopes the signing will enable the club to boost its links with the Asian community. “We hope this signing will act as a catalyst for the club to strengthen links with the significant Asian presence in Yorkshire, and we look forward to generating additional support in 2007 and beyond.”

Younis's signing has been made possible by financial backing from ABDN, a business support organisation for Asian entrepreneurs, which is sponsoring Yorkshire to finance the right-hander's move to the county.

ABDN president Arshad Chaudhry said: “We are excited about this joint venture, which is the first of its kind. We feel that it will help to shed the image of Yorkshire County Cricket Club as an old-fashioned club.

“This opening of its doors will be welcomed by the Asian community, who are keen to get involved with Yorkshire cricket.”

In 47 Tests Younis has scored 3,884 runs at an average of just under 50, with 12 hundreds and a best of 267 while Friday's Champions Trophy match against South Africa in Mohali was his 142nd One-day International.

Back in July leg-spinner Adil Rashid, the first Yorkshire-born Asian to make his debut for his county in a Championship fixture, got his career off to a dramatic start by taking six for 67 in a First Division win over Warwickshire at Scarborough.

It was not until the arrival of India star Sachin Tendulkar in 1992 that the club abandoned its policy of playing only Yorkshire-born players.—AFP