Qais Ahmad, the 19-year-old Afghanistan legspinner, has signed a deal to become Gloucestershire's overseas player for the 2020 season.

Qais, who made his international debut in Afghanistan's Test against Bangladesh at Chattogram in September, will be available for the whole of the T20 Blast, and will also play the final six games of the club's County Championship season.

Having been selected by the Welsh Fire in the inaugural draft of the Hundred, Qais will be playing in England and Wales for the majority of the domestic season, though he may miss some games with Afghanistan due to play a T20I series in Ireland in August.

Qais has owed much of his development to T20 leagues, having first come to prominence playing for St Lucia Stars in the Caribbean Premier League in 2018. Since then, he has also played for Hobart Hurricanes, Rajshahi Kings, and Guyana Amazon Warriors, though is yet to make his international debut in the format.

"I am extremely happy to have signed for Gloucestershire for the T20 Blast and then the County Championship," Qais said."It is a great honour for me to join Gloucestershire after they had such a successful 2019.

"Having played T20 cricket around the world I have always wanted to play first-class cricket in England to develop my red-ball skills. I am looking forward to working with [head coach] Richard Dawson."

Dawson said that he was "delighted" to have signed Qais ahead of the club's first season in Division One of the Championship since 2004.

"We had a very strong season in 2019 and Qais will help take us to the next level in both the long and short formats with his game-changing skills," he said.

"He's one of the most exciting young spinners in the world and I'm looking forward to seeing him add a new dimension to our T20 and County Championship squads."