Jayawardene signs for Derbyshire

Continuing a busy offseason of new signings, Derbyshire has secured the services of Sri Lanka captain, Mahela Jayawardene for the first half of the 2008 season. Jayawardene will arrive in late April and will play for the county until the middle of June.

The county recently attracted the signature of former West Indies batsman Wavell Hinds (Kolpak), as well as those of John Sadler (of Leicestershire) and Nayan Doshi (Surrey). Rikki Clarke has also signed on and will serve as captain during the 2008 season.

Speaking to Cricinfo in Adelaide, Jayawardene was upbeat about the contract, saying, “I haven’t played before. It’s a great opportunity.”

Jayawardene has scored 6630 runs in 88 Tests, at a healthy average of 49.84. He also has experience of 261 one-day internationals, and holds an average of 33.17 in that shorter form of the game.