Hamish Rutherford to join Worcestershire for T20 Blast as overseas player

He will be available for the duration of the competition as last year’s runners-up look to regain the crown they won in 2018

New Zealand batsman Hamish Rutherford will join Worcestershire ass their overseas player for this season’s T20 Blast.

He will be available for the duration of the competition as last year’s runners-up look to regain the crown they won in 2018. Though unconfirmed, it is thought that the Blast will run late in the season, after it was initially delayed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Rutherford has previously played for the club in 2019 and became only the second player to score centuries on his first-class and List A debut.

He hit 123 in the Specsavers County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground against Leicestershire and then 108 in the Royal London One-Day Cup versus Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.

The left-hander also featured on Finals Day last year, where Worcestershire came up just short against Essex in the final as they looked to become the first team to retain the Blast title.

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He had originally been scheduled to play the entire 2020 season for Worcestershire before the impact of Covid-19 delayed the campaign. As well as Rutherford’s belated arrival, it has been confirmed that Australia allrounder Ashton Turner will not be joining the county this year.

Worcestershire head coach Alex Gidman said: “It’s been a bitterly frustrating time for anyone in cricket all around the world and it’s no different for Hamish.

“We are looking forward to him coming back. Hamish and Riki Wessels can cause quite a lot of destruction at the top of the order and it’s important for us as a club and as a group of players that we challenge as much as we can in that competition.

“It’s something we’ve been successful in for the past two years and, regardless of how that competition looks this year, we want to try and do as well as possible in it.”

Worcestershire Cricket Steering Group Chairman Paul Pridgeon added: “I am delighted to confirm that Hamish is returning for the Vitality Blast this summer and will be available for the entire competition.

“He’s an excellent red ball player but has shown this winter for Otago Volts what a destructive player he can be in List A and T20 cricket.

“He showed his quality for us, fitted in well with the lads, and his signing will strengthen us.”

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