CRICBUZZ EXCLUSIVE

Middlesex sign AB de Villiers for T20 Blast 2019

by Adam Collins • Last updated on

AB de Villiers has over 7300 runs in the T20 format. © Getty

AB de Villiers has signed for Middlesex County Cricket Club for the T20 Blast this coming English summer, Cricbuzz can reveal.

It is understood that it will be formally announced this week that the retired South African superstar will be lining up for the Lord's-based club in the tournament beginning mid-July.

Middlesex finished on the bottom of their group last season, winning just two of their 14 games. By contrast, de Villiers has only reinforced since retiring from the international game that he remains at the very peak of his world-beating T20 powers.

Last May, de Villiers shocked the cricket world by stating that he would no longer play for the South Africa in any format. This followed a decorated return to the Test arena in 2018-19, his final Test Match capping a 3-1 home win over Australia in a series where he scored 421 runs at 71.16.

At the time of that retirement, the 35-year-old made it clear that he was keen to continue on the domestic T20 circuit, which included confirmation that he will once again turn out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming Indian Premier League.

In January's Bangladesh Premier League, he was on the winning side in each of the six games he played for the Ranpur Riders, smashing an even 100 not out in 50 balls in a successful chase against Dhaka Dynamite.

There has been relentless speculation that de Villiers will return to the South African ODI team for this year's World Cup in England, but the man who led his nation in a heartbreaking semifinal loss at the 2015 edition of the showpiece event, has refused to make any such commitment.

Across 272 matches of professional T20 cricket around the world, de Villiers has made in excess of 7300 runs at an average of 36 and an astonishing strike rate of 149. He has passed 50 on 52 occasions, four times reaching triple figures.

© Cricbuzz

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