Hampshire County Cricket Club have captured the Proteas batsman Hashim Amla as an overseas professional for the first few months of the 2018 season.
Amla will play in both the County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup before returning to Proteas duty for their Test series against Sri Lanka in July.
The former Proteas skipper will play alongside former South Africa teammates Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw at the county.
Hampshire Director of cricket Giles White said: “I spoke to him about opening the batting.
“We have some strength in depth there and it looks a strong team on paper if everyone is fit. He normally bats at three for South Africa but he is very comfortable opening.
“He wants to play, score runs and contribute.
“He’s an exciting acquisition for us and we feel he’ll be an excellent fit within the group we’ve got, both on and off the pitch.”
Amla is looking forward to a spell with Hampshire having scored 1,551 runs in the County Championship at an average of 57.44 playing for Essex, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
The middle-order master said: “I am really pleased to be joining a club like Hampshire. Everyone I have spoken to, who have either played or are currently playing there, have only good things to say about the team.
“I look forward to spending the first three months of the season with them, which works out well for me to be able to get some high-quality cricket in before the Proteas’ tour to Sri Lanka in July.”
