West Indies Twenty20 captain Darren Sammy has signed to represent Hampshire in this year’s NatWest T20 Blast.
The 32-year-old all-rounder, who led the Windies to the 2012 World T20 title, is again captaining the islanders in the current global tournament.
He will be available to Hampshire until his Caribbean Premier League commitments at the start of July.
Sammy’s first match at the Ageas Bowl will be Hampshire’s Blast clash against Kent Spitfires on Thursday 2 June.
Sammy, who has featured for Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire in T20 cricket among several teams worldwide, said: “I love playing in the UK and I’m really excited to have signed with Hampshire.
“Hampshire have had strong T20 results in the past which I’m hoping will continue this coming summer.”
Hampshire director of cricket Giles White said: “We are very proud of our T20 record and hopefully Darren can contribute to another successful campaign.
“He’s an explosive player and an infectious character which was what we were looking for; it will be great having him around.”
While Sammy bolsters Hampshire’s T20 options, the club has already signed Shahid Afridi and Ryan McLaren for the competition. They are not due to have access to Yasir Arafat, who has joined Somerset on a season-long loan.
Source: ECB