South Africa’s opener and test captain Hashim Amla has signed a short term deal with the English county Derbyshire to replace the unavailable New Zealand opener Martin Guptill. Derbyshire is Amla’s fourth county after having played for Surrey, Nottinghamshire and Essex.
Martin Guptill had earlier signed a deal for the first two months but due to his good form, selectors included him in the test squad which reduced his availability. So Derbyshire went to Amla to play for at least two Championship matches and three fixtures in the NatWest T20 Blast from the start of May. Tillakaratne Dilshan has also signed for two spells, either side of the Caribbean Premier League.
“Hashim is a world-class batsman and a proven match-winner on both the Test and limited-overs stage,” Graeme Welch, Derbyshire’s performance director, said. “He’s a player I have worked with before and I know he will be a great influence on the younger lads. He will also bring a wealth of experience to the side as we look to compete at the highest level in both red-ball and white-ball cricket.”
Amla has been the one of the world’s best for quite a long time and has proved his mettle in all the conditions around the world. His nos. speaks volumes for him. Amla has scored almost 13,000 runs in international cricket and is currently No. 3 in the Test and ODI batting rankings. He has averaged 63.04 in Championship cricket, as well as 54.66 in four T20 innings for Surrey. Wayne Madsen, Derbyshire’s captain, also has experience of playing under Amla for South Africa U-19s.
Amla said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to play in England this summer. Derbyshire are an ambitious club with an exciting young team and I’ve enjoyed working with Graeme before. I’m looking forward to making a strong contribution in both four-day and Twenty20 cricket for Derbyshire next month.”
