Former Proteas batter and batting coach returns to county cricket on a three-year deal
Benkenstein, 47, is also a former Durham captain who was head coach at Hampshire from 2014-16, helping them to reach two Vitality Blast Finals Days and secure promotion back to the top tier of the Championship in that time. He worked as Proteas batting coach from 2017-19 and has also coached South African side Dolphins.
“I am looking forward to working with a well-balanced squad of youth and experience and I feel the club as a whole have the ingredients to be consistently successful in all formats,” Benkenstein said. “It is exciting to be back involved in English county cricket where I have many fond memories.”
Benkenstein made 300 List A and 264 first-class appearances during his 20-year career, scoring 15,962 first-class runs and more than 9,000 limited-overs runs.
Born in Zimbabwe, he began his career at Natal, in South Africa, and after being named captain at the age of 22, took the side to four-day and one-day domestic titles. That led to Benkenstein making his ODI debut for South Africa against England in 1998 and he went on to play a total of 23 ODIs.
He joined Durham in 2005 and captained them to their first major trophy in 2007, defeating Hampshire in the final of the Friends Provident competition. He then led Durham to back-to-back Championship titles in 2008 and 2009, the first in the club’s history.
Harvey said: “It’s been a huge honour for me to lead the team this season and I’m really proud of what the squads have achieved. Some of the performances in the County Championship in particular have been top class and there is no doubt these players have a bright future ahead.
“I’ve been following the recruitment process with interest and there is no doubt that Dale is a great signing and I’m very excited to be working with him; I knew him as a fierce competitor on the pitch and I’m sure his style and considerable experience will produce great results for our club.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo