South African All-rounder Beyers Swanepoel signs a contract with Kent for all three formats of the game until the end of the 2024 season, which will be his first in England.
South African All-rounder Beyers Swanepoel Joins Kent
South African All-rounder Beyers Swanepoel will join Kent from May 1 after Cricket Australia Xavier Bartlett’s deal to join was rejected.
Centrally-contracted Bartlett’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) has been withdrawn by Australia after a busy winter playing in his homeland.
Swanepoel, 25, has scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 127 wickets in his 33 first-class matches for Free State. He 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.”
The 24-year-old has already represented South Africa “A” and is currently the leading wicket-taker in the CSA T20 Challenge with 15 wickets.
CHECK: County Championship 2024 Fixtures: Division One Schedule, Squad
