Khawaja Rejoins Derbyshire For 2012

Khawaja Rejoins Derbyshire For 2012

Usman Khawaja will be hoping that his spell with Derbyshire will help further his international ambitions.

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Derbyshire have confirmed that Australian top-order batsman Usman Khawaja will be joining them from the start of their Friends Life t20 campaign on June 14th, and will become their main overseas player for the rest of the season. He will take over from Martin Guptill, who earlier signed as the Falcons’ main overseas player for the first ten weeks of the season, but has international commitments with New Zealand after that date.

The three-month spell will be Khawaja’s second at the County Ground following his successful early-season stint last year, during which he scored 319 Championship runs at an average of almost 40 – including a century during his final match against Kent – and managed 155 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 from his five appearances.

The 25 year-old, who was born in Pakistan but moved to Sydney with his family at the age of three, has played six Test matches for his adopted country, including an Ashes debut, but was recently dropped from the national side to make way for Shaun Marsh.

Nevertheless, he is thought by many to have a long international career ahead of him, and his tally of 2087 runs at an average of 53.51 for his state team, New South Wales, is testament to his class.

Head coach Karl Krikken expressed his delight at the capture of the talented left-hander, saying, “Usman is a talented and prolific batsman with an excellent future. We are delighted to bring him back to the County Ground.

"We were hugely impressed with Usman during his previous spell with the club and the 2012 season will give him the opportunity of settling into a longer spell and hopefully scoring plenty of runs."

Chairman Chris Grant added, "It's good to have our overseas berth sorted for the coming season and I'm excited by the prospect of both Martin and Usman returning to the club. They will be better players from the experience of last season and we know what we are getting in terms of their attitude, professionalism and contribution to the squad.”

Grant also outlined the club’s plans for further overseas recruitment, adding, “Karl, Keith Loring (Derbyshire CCC chief executive) and I are continuing to work hard to recruit the services of a proven match changer for the Friends Life t20 campaign."

© Cricket World 2012