Hashim Amla signs with Surrey

Hashim Amla's romance with The Oval is set to continue after Surrey announced the signing of the South Africa batsman for the final six championship games. Amla replaces his national team-mate JP Duminy, who will be involved in the Champions League T20 in India in September.

"The Oval holds a lot of fond memories for me personally," said Amla, whose last Test outing there was an unbeaten 311 against England in 2012, "I look forward to returning there this year and hopefully enjoying similar success."

Alec Stewart, director of cricket at Surrey said Amla's experience, playing Test cricket and for Essex over the years, would help him get into his stride quickly. "You want continuity and because Duminy wasn't available for all six [matches], I made the decision that I wanted someone available for six [matches] and when I found out that Amla was very much available it was a no-brainer, really."

Amla is the fourth South African to be linked with Surrey this year, with Graeme Smith drafted in to lead the side and an informal query made to Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford, during the Champions Trophy, if he would be interested in taking over as coach following the departure of Chris Adams.

"The dressing room was very, very happy," Stewart said "We've had two high-class batters already in Smith and in Ponting and now we've got a third one. But we can't just rely on the one man, we've got to make sure the whole team performs so that we get some wins on the board"

Amla will make his Surrey debut on August 22 against Durham at Chester-le-Street.