Ganguly signs for Northamptonshire

Sourav Ganguly has signed for Northamptonshire as a short-term replacement for the Australian batsman, Chris Rogers, who will be away on A team duty from the end of July.

Ganguly, who has not yet given up hope of a recall to the Indian squad, will be available to play against Nottinghamshire in the C&G Trophy on June 25. His powerful strokeplay and desire to impress ahead of next year's World Cup will also make him a big drawcard for the Twenty20 tournament that follows.

"Ganguly is a very exciting player to watch," said Kepler Wessels, Northamptonshire's coach. "He is a tremendous batsman and will be highly motivated as he is keen to win back his place in the Indian team."

Chief Executive Mark Tagg added: "We are delighted that Ganguly has signed. It took a while to finalise but we were never worried as we had had verbal confirmation. He will be a very exciting player, particularly in the Twenty20 Cup matches.

"Ticket sales for all the Twenty20 matches are already selling well," added Wagg, "and now with the added bonus of watching a world-class cricketer we expect to sell out well in advance."

Ganguly was India's most successful Test captain with 21 victories out of 49. Overall, he has scored 5221 runs in 88 Tests and 10123 in 279 one-dayers.