Hampshire have announced the signing of seamer Ruel Brathwaite for the rest of this season and all of next.
The 27-year-old, who was released by Durham on Monday, is playing in Hampshire’s current game with Northamptonshire but is not available for the Royals in the remainder of this year’s Yorkshire Bank 40.
Brathwaite, who is featuring versus Northants after a successful trial, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to sign for Hampshire and excited by the prospect of evolving my game under the leadership of Giles White.
“The Royals possess a supremely talented squad of cricketers, which makes them one of the leading counties in the circuit, so I simply couldn’t refuse the opportunity to represent this club going into 2014.”
Though born and raised in Barbados, Brathwaite has lived in the UK long enough to qualify as a non-overseas player.
Having been brought over to attend Dulwich College, he then went on to study for an undergraduate degree at Loughborough University, where he was an integral part of the team that won the British Universities Championship in 2007. He followed that with a Masters degree at Cambridge University, where he obtained his best first-class figures of 5-54 against Oxford MCCU.
He signed for Durham in 2010 and took 39 first-class wickets in 11 matches for the county at an average of 23.35, including two five-wicket hauls and a best of 5-56.
Hampshire manager White said: “Ruel has impressed us a great deal in the short time he has been with us and fully deserved his opportunity in the first team this week.
“We are very pleased to have secured his services until the end of the 2014 season. He adds depth to our bowling attack and seems to be fitting into the squad very well.”
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