Essex to unveil new overseas player (From Essex County Standard)

Essex to unveil new overseas player

10:33am Wednesday 24th June 2009

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Essex are set to unveil a South African Test batsman as their new overseas player.

Current overseas star Danish Kaneria has been selected for the forthcoming Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka and is expected to be away for around a month.

And his replacement is believed to be either AB De Villiers or Jean-Paul Duminy.

The county are staying tight-lipped until confirmation is received from the Pakistan Cricket Board of when Kaneria will be required, with their Test series beginning in Galle on July 4.

Coach Paul Grayson said: “We’ve got a replacement ready to come in, so hopefully he’ll be here for the County Championship match against Glamorgan.

“I can’t tell you who he is at the moment, but he’s a very good player.”

Essex appear to have decided against a straight replacement for leg-spinner Kaneria, who has been in fine form in recent weeks.

He took six wickets in the second innings of last week’s vital LV County Championship victory at Kent and added another three wickets in Monday evening’s trouncing of Middlesex in the Twenty20 Cup.

The need for a batsman is made more urgent by Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara’s involvement in the Ashes.

Essex have lacked consistant top-order runs whenever the pair have been on international duty.

And De Villiers or Duminy would fit the bill as the class act Essex have been lacking.

In recent years they have enjoyed the fruits of Stuart Law and Andy Flower’s runs while playing at The Ford County Ground as overseas players.

De Villiers, 25, currently averages nearly 44 in 52 Test Matches, while Duminy, a left-handed batter, who earlier in the year played for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, is also 25-years-old and averages 48 in six Tests.

The lack of a world-class spinner would affect Essex’s ability to take 20-wickets and win matches, but Warwickshire showed last season that a side can gain promotion by drawing games and claiming full batting points on a regular basis.

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