Hornchurch captain Billy Gordon says he is looking forward to playing alongside Mohammad Amir, after the club announced the signing of the Pakistan international.
Amir will line up for the Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Division club, having completed a short spell at Gloucestershire.
The 30-year-old left-arm quick bowler took six wickets in a match against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, having gone wicketless against Surrey as bat dominated ball at Bristol.
And he is set to make his Hornchurch bow at Shenfield on Saturday week (May 28).
Gordon said: "It'll be interesting to play alongside him. Hopefully he puts it in and does well for us!
"Our overseas has been called into a performance camp in Pakistan and is now coming in mid-June.
"Adeel [Malik] knows him and got in touch to see if he was available and alright to play.
"He's a top quality performer and left-arm quick is something different, you don't face that many.
"He will be great to have when he comes, hopefully he will be raring to go at Shenfield.
"We've got some big games coming up, including Brentwood in a few weeks."
Amir dismissed England's Ravi Bopara with just the second ball of his international debut and went on to help Pakistan win the T20 World Cup in 2009, aged just 17.
And he set other records in the early stages of his career, becoming the youngest bowler to take 50 Test wickets at the age of 18, before being convicted of conspiracy charges relating to spot-fixing in November 2011.
As well as serving a short prison sentence, Amir was given a five-year ban from cricket, but he returned to help Essex win the County Championship title in 2017, taking 10-72 in a two-day win over Yorkshire at Scarborough.
He had another short spell at Chelmsford in 2019, as Essex won a County Championship/Vitality Blast T20 'Double', and retired from international cricket having played a combined total of 147 Test (36), ODI (61) and T20 (50) matches and taken 259 (119/81/59) wickets.
And speaking ahead of his recent spell with Gloucestershire, he said: "I love playing in English conditions and I'm feeling really good, so I hope I can perform well for the team."
Hornchurch have fielded some excellent overseas players over the past 20 years, including New Zealand Test bowler Chris Drum, South African Roger Telemachus, Australian all-rounder Cameron Nupier - who took 10 wickets and scored a hundred in one match at Shenfield in 2007 - and Pakistan's Muhammad Irfan, who helped them win an Essex League, Cup and T20 treble in 2018, alongside former England spinner Monty Panesar.
And Amir will be arguably the biggest name of all to wear the club shirt, with Gordon adding: "We've been lucky to have some top talent. Irfan was a great talent, a big, awkward bowler.
"We've had some decent ones, hopefully they perform when they should, stay fit.
"I think he'll get first choice. I'm looking forward to it. I feel sorry for the slip fielders. I'll tell him to aim at the stumps!"
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