Van Jaarsveld signs up for Glamorgan

By Richard Thomas

Glamorgan have recruited South African veteran batsman Martin van Jaarsveld for this season’s Friends Life t20 competition.

Fresh from leading the Nashua Titans to the domestic double in South Africa, the club where former Glamorgan director of cricket Matthew Maynard is coach, 37-year-old van Jaarsveld will arrive in Wales at the end of May.

Van Jaarsveld will play for Glamorgan as a British passport holder, meaning the county still have room to sign a second t20 overseas player along with Australian Marcus North. “The Titans have had a really successful season and this has re-ignited my passion in the game,” said the South African, who played for Kent between 2005 and 2011.

”I enjoy playing t20 cricket and I will be working hard to help the Dragons reach the 2012 Friends Life t20 Finals Day, particularly as it is being held at the Swalec Stadium.”

Matthew Mott, Glamorgan’s head of elite performance, believes van Jaarsveld’s experience will help the county. “We have been looking for genuine match winners to make us a more potent force and, off the back of a very successful season in South Africa with the Titans, Martin fits the bill,” said Mott.

During his career, van Jaarsveld has played a total of 118 Twenty20 matches and in this year’s MiWay T20 Challenge in South Africa he averaged 28 at a strike rate of 156, culminating in a vital innings of 32 runs off just 21 balls in the final.

Along with Matthew Walker, van Jaarsveld holds the domestic record for the fifth wicket partnership of 117 achieved for Kent against Leicestershire in 2006. 
 

Date: 01/05/2012 15:03:13 by Richard Thomas
In: Today | Glamorgan |