THE third highest wicket-taker in the history of Twenty20 cricket, Yasir Arafat, will make his Somerset return in the county's opening NatWest T20 Blast match of the season against Kent at Canterbury on Friday evening.

Since making his T20 debut back in 2006, Arafat has taken 277 wickets in the short form of the game that has become so popular the world over.

On his previous stint with Somerset back in 2013 he claimed 20 wickets at 14.60 to help them to reach the quarter finals, the last time they did so, before losing to Surrey at the Oval.

Arafat said: “I was here playing for Somerset three years ago and I have got many happy memories from that time so I’m looking forward to playing for the county again.

“We had a great season that year before losing at the Oval, so I am looking forward to another good season.

Talking about playing alongside Chris Gayle and Mahela Jayawardene, the 34-year-old said: “Everybody knows how good Chris Gayle is and he did well playing for Somerset last year, and Mahela Jayawardene is another very good player and I played alongside him in the Masters T20 in February in Dubai.

“I try to do well for whichever team I am playing for and I enjoy playing T20 cricket all around the world.

“We have got a few good young players in the Somerset side as well as the overseas signings so I hope that we can do well this year.

“I very much enjoyed my time here in 2013, I know a lot of the players and the crowd is very supportive so I’m looking forward to starting on Friday night at Kent where I played for two years,”

Arafat will be playing for Somerset in both the NatWest T20 Blast and the Royal London One-Day Cup.