Notts batsman Usman Afzaal made good use of the current break in England's winter Test schedules by agreeing a new three-year contract at Trent Bridge.

The left-hander's existing deal was due to run out at the end of the forthcoming season and Notts are delighted the Test star has committed his future to the club.

A product of the Notts youth system, who started his career as a slow left arm bowler, Afzaal first caught the selectors' eyes after passing the 1,000-run landmark in the County Championship for the first time in 2000.

The Pakistan-born 24-year-old, whose family moved to Nottingham when he was a young boy, was picked for the England squad last summer and played in three Ashes Tests against Australia, hitting a half century at the Oval.

He said: "After improving my cricket so much under Clive Rice at Notts and getting into the England team, I was only too happy to sign for the next three years.

"Nottinghamshire is my home county and I want to win games for them and for England as well whenever I get the chance.

"It's going to be an exciting time ahead at Trent Bridge and I aim to be part of the team that gets this club back in the First Division of the County Championship where we belong and hopefully lifts a few trophies along the way."

Notts' Cricket Operations Manager Mick Newell is delighted to have secured the services of Afzaal until the end of the 2004 season and said: "At the end of last summer we wanted to sign up all of our best young players on long term deals so we would know exactly where we stood for the next few seasons.

"With Usman signing this contract we have achieved our aim as he is now committed for the same period of time as Chris Read and Paul Franks.

"It has been great to see Usman progress from representative youth cricket at Notts through to the Test arena and we hope he will continue to perform well for both Notts and England in the future."

© Nottinghamshire CCC