Durham sign South African Keegan Petersen for County Championship stint

The top-order batter, who has scored over 6,500 first-class runs at 40.93, will be available for seven Championship matches

Durham have signed South Africa international Keegan Petersen for the 2022 LV= Insurance County Championship.

The 28-year-old will be available for seven red-ball fixtures before linking up with the South Africa squad following Durham’s clash with Worcestershire in mid-June.

Petersen, a top-order batter, has scored over 6,500 runs at 40.93, including 16 centuries and 32 half-centuries, during his first-class career.

He made his international debut against West Indies in June 2021 before cementing his place in the Test side during South Africa’s 2-1 victory over India in January. Making light work of India’s stacked bowling attack, Petersen scored a series-leading 276 runs at 46 and picked up the ICC’s player of the month award for January.

Commenting on signing for Durham, Petersen said: "It’s exciting to join a county like Durham and I look forward to linking up with the squad and having a successful contribution during my time in the north east."

^{Petersen celebrates scoring a half-century against India in January [Rodger Bosch/Getty Images]}

Durham have been one of the quieter counties during the off-season but the South African’s arrival at the Riverside is a sign of their strong promotion ambitions for 2022.

In Petersen, they have recruited an experienced red-ball batter in the form of his life – since the beginning of the South African season, he has scored 527 first-class runs, including six half-centuries, at 47.90, in 11 innings – to add further depth to their already impressive top six.

He joins David Bedingham, one of only five players to pass 1,000 runs in the 2021 County Championship, and highly-touted opener Alex Lees as one of the star names of Durham’s top order, with opener Michael Jones, captain Scott Borthwick, Ned Eckersley and Sean Dickson also in the mix.

He will, however, face competition for his desired no.3 berth from Borthwick while his mid-June departure coincides badly with a run of England Test matches which could also deprive the county of Lees’ services.

An immediate impact with the bat à la Bedingham’s 565 runs from his first six innings in 2021 will therefore be desirable.

Director of cricket, Marcus North, said: "We’re very pleased to have secured the quality of Keegan Petersen for the first block of county cricket in 2022.

"Keegan will add further strength to the top our batting line up and joins the club on the back of a successful period with South Africa.

 "He is in a great place with his cricket having, last year, broke into the South African Test side; we look forward to welcoming Keegan to Durham in April."