County batsman welcomes chance to shine in Pakistan

Madsen, who scored 854 runs in the last two domestic Twenty20 campaigns for Derbyshire, is pleased to be given the chance to shine overseas.

The 34-year-old was picked up by Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL draft and will join former team-mate Wahab Riaz, as well as England internationals Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan and Liam Dawson, in Peshawar.

Madsen said: “It’s a great competition and for me to experience another competition in different conditions with world class players is going to be great, with the aim of showcasing my skills and winning games for the team.

“My skills against spin in particular will hopefully bode well and I’m really excited to test my skills against some of the best spinners around.

“My performances in T20 cricket have really improved in the last few years and I’ve found my niche role. It suits my game really well and I’ve bowled a few more overs in the last couple of years as well.

“In any sport, if you perform and play well then you’ll get noticed so I’ve been blessed that this opportunity has come around.

“It’s important to play a high-level of cricket in the lead-up to the county season. But also experience of a new competition will also be really valuable going forward into the T20 with Derbyshire.

“It’s about testing your skills and taking back knowledge from the PSL, which can help us next summer.”

Derbyshire narrowly missed out on a Finals Day appearance in 2017 afterdefeat in the quarter-finals, following a club-record eight wins in the format.

Last season the Falcons started slowly but recovered to record some impressive wins, including back-to-back victories over Yorkshire Vikings.

Madsen added: “In the last couple of years we’ve played some excellent T20 cricket and we’ve shown signs of vast improvement. “Hopefully now with more experience as a team and Dave [Houghton] and Steve [Kirby] with the club we can continue to progress.”