Rutherford completes Derbyshire’s overseas ambitions

Derbyshire have signed New Zealand Test opening batsman Hamish Rutherford to strengthen the club’s batting options while Tillakaratne Dilshan is at the Caribbean Premier League.

The 26-year-old will join Derbyshire in the middle of June and will be available for all three forms until the end of July, starting with the NatWest T20 Blast fixture against Worcestershire on Friday, June 19.

In total, he will be available for seven NatWest T20 Blast fixtures, three LV= County Championship matches and four Royal London One-Day Cup games during his stay.

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Rutherford, who is part of the New Zealand Test team touring England this May, has featured in 16 Tests for the Black Caps scoring 755 runs with a top score of 171 against England in Dunedin in 2013.

He is an explosive Twenty20 hitter, competing in 78 career Twenty20 matches, accumulating over 3,350 runs and with an impressive strike rate of 143.5. He has also featured in 44 List A matches, scoring 1,157 runs with a top score of 110.

Elite performance director Graeme Welch said: “Hamish is a talented top-order batsman who already has experience playing county cricket in English conditions. “He has international pedigree in both the long and shorter formats which will be key as he joins us at what is a busy part of the summer. He will join us fresh from a Test series versus England so he will be used to the conditions, match fit and raring to go.

“Together with Guptill, Rimmington, Amla and Dilshan, we have now been able to reinforce our line-up with experienced overseas players across the entire season which provides us with real options in all formats of the game.”

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Rutherford added: “I’m looking forward to remaining in England and contributing to a successful Derbyshire side. They are an ambitious club and coming off the back of a Test series, I intend to play my part in a successful season for Graeme and the team.”