SUNRISERS' SWANEPOEL PENS NEW KENT DEAL

Swanepoel was drafted at the mini-auction last year and played five games for the Sunrisers en route to the Eastern Cape team winning back-to-back Betway SA20 championship titles.

The 24-year-old has already represented South Africa “A” and is currently the leading wicket-taker in the CSA T20 Challenge with 15 scalps. He has also performed admirably with the bat in the CSA T20 Challenge where he often been utilised as a pinch-hitter to provide momentum at the top of the innings.

Swanepoel will be available for all three formats of the game until the end of the 2024 season, which will be his first in England.

"We looked very carefully at him earlier in the year but at that stage he hadn't played the required games to qualify as a viable overseas signing for us," said Kent director of cricket Simon Cook. "He's a genuine all-rounder who provides extra batting depth for us across all formats - a gap that we've looked to fill with our overseas players this year.”

Equally, Swanepoel is delighted at being able to have his first opportunity to sample English conditions.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to join a historic county side such as Kent and to play in all formats of the English county game,” he said. “I hope to learn a lot whilst I’m here amongst a very talented squad. I spoke to former Kent overseas players before I signed and they couldn’t recommend Kent highly enough as a place to come and improve my game in English conditions.

“I can’t wait to put on the Kent shirt and perform to the best of my abilities this summer.”

MI Cape Town all-rounder George Linde was Kent’s overseas professional for the past two seasons, although his stint was severely hampered due to a serious knee injury.

SA20 SEASON 2 PLAYERS IN THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

Division One

Durham: Colin Ackermann (Pretoria Capitals)

Essex: Simon Harmer, Adam Rossington (both Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Sam Cook (Joburg Super Kings)

Hampshire: Liam Dawson (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), John Turner (Paarl Royals)

Kent: Beyers Swanepoel (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)

Lancashire: Jos Buttler (Paarl Royals), Liam Livingstone (MI Cape Town), Phil Salt (Pretoria Capitals)

Nottinghamshire: Olly Stone (MI Cape Town)

Somerset: Tom Abell (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Tom Banton (MI Cape Town)

Surrey: Sam Curran (MI Cape Town), Will Jacks (Pretoria Capitals), Jason Roy (Paarl Royals), Reece Topley (Durban's Super Giants), Dan Worrall (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)

Warwickshire: Moeen Ali (Joburg Super Kings), Chris Benjamin (MI Cape Town)

Division Two

Derbyshire: Wayne Madsen (Joburg Super Kings)

Glamorgan: Colin Ingram (Pretoria Capitals)

Leicestershire: Wiaan Mulder (Durban's Super Giants)

Middlesex: Leus du Plooy (Joburg Super Kings)

Yorkshire: Adil Rashid (Pretoria Capitals), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Dawid Malan (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)