On Monday, Middlesex revealed that renowned South African spinner Keshav Maharaj had been signed for the 2017 County Championship and T20 Blast seasons (February 2023). The remaining eight Championship games as well as the full 2022 T20 Blast season will have access to the left-arm spinner. The 33-year-old recently served as the captain of Dolphins in South Africa’s domestic four-day Series Division 1 red-ball cricket competition. In just three games, he has taken 23 wickets, including 11 against the Knights in the most recent game. He will play in the two-game home Test series South Africa will play against the West Indies beginning on February 28.
With 72 wickets from 13 games at an average of 21.72 when playing for Lancashire and Yorkshire, he also has good stats in the County Championship. Middlesex, who placed second in Division Two last season, will need to rely heavily on his experience and current form. The Middlesex cricket team is thrilled to acquire a player of Maharaj’s caliber, according to director of cricket Alan Coleman. He claimed that Maharaj is a talent of the highest caliber, enabling them to compete this season against the biggest team in the top division.
“We are delighted that Keshav has signed for Middlesex this season and are really excited to have someone of his caliber and experience joining us for the first four months of the season,” Alan Coleman said in an official statement. “Two hard-fought games against Nottinghamshire last season, who came up from Division Two with us, showed us just what we’ll be facing week in and week out this coming season, so we felt it was essential that we brought in someone of world-class talent, with the quality of Keshav, to enable us to better handle the challenges that top-flight cricket will bring. The young spinners we have in our squad will benefit enormously from having Keshav with us this year,” he added.
Maharaj also expressed his excitement and said that he is looking forward to contributing to the team’s success across formats this season. “I’m really excited to be linking up with such a professional and experienced county and am looking forward to wearing the Middlesex colors and calling the Home of Cricket my home. I hope I can contribute to the team’s success across the various formats and am excited to form part of the Middlesex family,” Maharaj said.
