Birmingham Phoenix have signed Australian left-arm pacer Ben Dwarshuis as a replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, who is out for at least a month with a grade 1 knee muscle tear. Dwarshuis returns to a franchise he last played for in 2022, arriving off the back of a 16-wicket campaign in Major League Cricket. The Phoenix open their 2026 campaign against Trent Rockets on Friday, July 24, at Edgbaston.

What Happened: The Squad Change Explained

Franchise T20 squads rarely stay fixed for long, and The Hundred is no exception. Injuries in the build-up to a short, high-intensity tournament often force last-minute reshuffles, and that’s exactly what’s played out at Birmingham Phoenix ahead of the 2026 season. With Mustafizur Rahman ruled out, the club has moved quickly to bring in a bowler who already knows the environment: Ben Dwarshuis, who represented the Phoenix back in 2022.

For fans trying to make sense of the change, the short version is this — Birmingham Phoenix have lost a left-arm pace option who was set to make franchise history, and replaced him with another left-arm quick who has spent the past few months proving himself as one of the form bowlers on the global T20 circuit.

Why Mustafizur Rahman Is Out

Mustafizur, signed by the Phoenix for £100,000, was set to become the first Bangladeshi player to appear in The Hundred. That milestone will now have to wait. He’s been sidelined with a grade 1 muscle tear in the knee, an injury that typically requires around four weeks of rest and graded return-to-play work before a bowler can safely resume full intensity.

Grade 1 tears are the mildest classification of muscle strain — involving a small number of damaged fibres rather than a partial or complete rupture — which is a reasonable indicator he should be available again relatively soon after The Hundred’s short group-stage window closes. Still, for a tournament that runs across just a few weeks, a four-week absence is effectively a season-ending blow for Mustafizur’s 2026 campaign.

Who Is Ben Dwarshuis? Player Profile

Ben Dwarshuis is a 32-year-old Australian left-arm pace bowler known for his skiddy, hard-length deliveries and his knack for bowling effectively at the death — one of the most valuable and hardest-to-master skills in franchise cricket. He’s built a reputation across multiple T20 leagues as a bowler who combines control with the ability to strike in clusters, and he’s no stranger to English conditions or The Hundred format specifically.

This isn’t his first stint at Birmingham Phoenix — he featured for the franchise once before, in 2022 — and he also has Hundred experience with the Northern Superchargers (now rebranded as Sunrisers Leeds), where he picked up four wickets in two appearances in 2024. He’s now closing in on a notable career landmark, sitting just three matches away from 200 T20 appearances worldwide, a number that underlines just how well-travelled and experienced he is in the format.

Dwarshuis’s Recent Form: MLC 2026 Numbers

Recent form matters more than reputation in T20 recruitment, and on that front, Dwarshuis’s timing couldn’t be better. He was part of the Washington Freedom squad in the 2026 Major League Cricket season, where he took 16 wickets in eight matches — a strong return that places him among the tournament’s more effective bowling performers.

What’s arguably more eye-catching, though, is his batting. In six innings during that MLC campaign, Dwarshuis struck at 202.70, a rate that would make him a genuine lower-order weapon in a format where every ball counts double. In a 100-ball-per-innings competition, having a bowler who can also finish an innings with a flurry of boundaries adds real tactical flexibility for a captain and team management.

Birmingham Phoenix’s Overseas Contingent for 2026

Dwarshuis doesn’t arrive into a threadbare squad — quite the opposite. He joins a Birmingham Phoenix side already well-stocked with overseas firepower, including South African all-rounder Donovan Ferreira, Australian batter Mitchell Owen, and Pakistan international Usman Tariq. That depth of international talent gives head coach Shane Bond several tactical options across the top order, middle overs, and death bowling.

Captaincy Change: Why Donovan Ferreira Is Leading the Side

One of the more significant off-field storylines this season is the captaincy. Ferreira has been named captain after original skipper Jacob Bethell was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury of his own. Birmingham Phoenix responded by bringing in Hampshire batter Joe Weatherley as Bethell’s direct replacement, a signing that reflects Weatherley’s strong form in the 2026 T20 Blast.

Handing the captaincy to an overseas player like Ferreira is not unusual in The Hundred, where squads are frequently reshaped by international availability, but it does add an extra layer of adjustment for a team already absorbing two injury-enforced changes before a ball has been bowled.

How This Affects Birmingham Phoenix’s Balance and Strategy

Losing Mustafizur is a genuine blow in terms of variety — he’s a left-arm bowler known for his slower-ball skill and change-of-pace mastery, particularly at the death. Dwarshuis, also left-arm, offers a different but comparably useful skill set: more pace-on, hit-the-deck aggression, backed by genuine batting utility lower down the order.

For Shane Bond, the net effect is a squad that trades a touch of variation for greater all-round balance. That’s a reasonable trade in a format where teams often need bowlers capable of contributing with the bat in the closing stages of an innings.

The Hundred 2026: Key Dates and Opening Fixture

Birmingham Phoenix begin their 2026 campaign at home against Trent Rockets on Friday, July 24. It’s a high-profile opener that will give fans their first look at the new-look squad, including Dwarshuis, Weatherley, and captain Ferreira, all in Phoenix colours together for the first time.

Table: Birmingham Phoenix Overseas Signings at a Glance

Expert Take: What to Watch For

A few things worth tracking as the tournament unfolds:

• Death-overs bowling plans. With Mustafizur’s slower-ball variations unavailable, watch whether Bond leans on Dwarshuis or another squad bowler for the final overs.
• Dwarshuis’s batting role. A 200-plus strike rate in his last tournament suggests he could bat as high as No. 7 or 8 in a pinch, giving Birmingham Phoenix extra depth.
• Leadership under Ferreira. First-time or recently-appointed captains in The Hundred often take a match or two to settle tactically — early results against Trent Rockets will be a useful gauge.
• Mustafizur’s recovery timeline. A grade 1 tear with a roughly four-week outlook means he could theoretically return before the tournament’s business end, depending on how the group stage schedule falls.

FAQ

Why was Ben Dwarshuis signed by Birmingham Phoenix? He was brought in as a direct replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, who suffered a grade 1 knee muscle tear and is expected to be out for around four weeks.

Has Ben Dwarshuis played for Birmingham Phoenix before? Yes. He previously played one match for the franchise in 2022 and also featured for the Northern Superchargers (now Sunrisers Leeds) in The Hundred 2024.

What was Mustafizur Rahman’s signing fee? Birmingham Phoenix signed Mustafizur for £100,000, and he was set to become the first Bangladeshi cricketer to play in The Hundred before his injury.

How has Ben Dwarshuis performed recently? In the 2026 Major League Cricket season with Washington Freedom, he took 16 wickets in eight matches and struck at 202.70 with the bat across six innings.

Who is captaining Birmingham Phoenix in 2026? Donovan Ferreira has been named captain after original skipper Jacob Bethell was ruled out through injury.

Who replaced Jacob Bethell in the squad? Hampshire batter Joe Weatherley was signed as Bethell’s replacement following a strong 2026 T20 Blast campaign.

When do Birmingham Phoenix play their first match of The Hundred 2026? They open the season at home against Trent Rockets on Friday, July 24.

How many T20 matches has Ben Dwarshuis played in his career? He is currently three matches short of reaching 200 T20 appearances.