Zander de Bruyn joins Surrey

Zander de Bruyn, the former South Africa allrounder, has joined Surrey on a one-year deal for the 2011 English season after spending three summers at Somerset.

At Somerset he scored 2,497 first-class runs at an average of 38.41 and added a further 1,656 in one-day cricket, averaging 53.41. In all, he scored seven centuries and 32 fifties in all competitions. He joins as a Kolpak player but is one year away from securing a British passport and his wife is a British Citizen.

de Bruyn will link up with Surrey in early April after his South Africa season with the Lions finishes. "I'm obviously excited and looking forward to the new challenge at Surrey, especially getting a chance to play regularly at a Test ground with the quality players that they have in the squad," he said.

Surrey cricket manager, Chris Adams, said: "The experience of a man like Zander de Bruyn will be utterly invaluable in our dressing room. Although I am convinced we have some of the finest young talents in the country in our squad, playing alongside someone with the knowhow of Zander will be hugely beneficial in all areas.

"Also, with the recent injury to Mark Ramprakash making his situation relatively unclear for the start of next season, it was vital we had an experienced batsman to turn to and provide a steady hand and this gives us exactly that."

Rory Hamilton-Brown, Surrey captain, added: "We have a really exciting and very young squad at the moment, so adding someone of the quality and experience of Zander de Bruyn was an absolute must. It's really exciting to have someone like him coming into the Club and being with us all season.

"His presence will also play a huge part in helping our younger players learn, just by watching someone of his class going about his day-to-day business."