Leicestershire have turned to South Africa to bolster their batting strength, signing batsman Colin Ackermann on a two-year contract.
The signing will encourage the belief that English counties are eager to raid South African players who suspect their chances of progression may be limited in their own country because of stiffened transformation policies.
Ackermann, a former South Africa U-19 international, will qualify as a non-overseas player. He has a first-class record approaching 40, the latest of seven hundreds coming for Warriors against the Multiply Titans last week. He also has 10 half-centuries in the two limited-overs formats.
Leicestershire’s head coach Pierre de Bruyn, a fellow South African, said: “Colin is a quality top order batsman who can also bowl some useful off-spin, and he will offer us a good option in all three formats of the game. He will provide us with further competition for places.”
Ackermann does have previous knowledge of Leicestershire, having represented Kibworth in 2012. He also played a Second XI match for Leicestershire that year, top-scoring with 73 in a low-scoring match against Northants.
Leicestershire have stabilised under the guidance of their chief executive Wasim Khan, a former chief executive of the Chance to Shine charity, which seeks to promote cricket in State schools. However, his specialist knowledge has – perhaps unsurprisingly considering the inevitable time lag – brought no overnight transformation in Leicestershire’s ability to produce players from a wider talent base.