News

Amla fills gap for Derbyshire

South Africa's Test captain, Hashim Amla, has signed a short-term contract to join Derbyshire as a replacement for Martin Guptill

Hashim Amla will play in two Championship and three T20 matches for Derbyshire  •  Getty Images

Hashim Amla will play in two Championship and three T20 matches for Derbyshire  •  Getty Images

South Africa's Test captain, Hashim Amla, has signed a short-term contract to join Derbyshire as a replacement for Martin Guptill. Derbyshire will become Amla's fourth county, after spells with Surrey, Nottinghamshire and Essex.
Guptill had signed for the first two months of the season but his recall to New Zealand's Test team reduced his availability. Amla will now slot in for 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 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."