Middlesex have announced the crucial signing of Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor in their campaign for the Royal London One-Day Cup.
Taylor will make his debut for Middlesex on 2 April against Surrey at the Oval and will be available to play in the final five group games of the tournament.
Should Middlesex qualify for the knockout stages, he will also be available to for the cup play-off and semi-final on the 10t and 12 May.
The pre-World Cup schedules of England and Ireland mean that Middlesex will be without regulars Eoin Morgan and Paul Stirling for more than half of the duration of the cup.
Middlesex Cricket’s managing director of cricket Angus Fraser said of the signing: “Eoin and Paul are outstanding one-day cricketers and we were keen to strengthen our resources on the back of their absence during the second half of the tournament.
“To have the opportunity to fill these gaps with a player of Ross’ undoubted class is a real treat for the club.
“He is an outstanding cricketer and a cracking man, and we look forward to welcoming him to Lord’s in a couple of weeks’ time. ”
Taylor who climbed to third in the ICC One Day International rankings behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after a magnificent 14 months of 50 over cricket will be in fantastic form upon arrival with an average of almost 97 after scoring 1,063 runs in this period and will be a key man for Middlesex after regular players will be missing due to World Cup commitments.
