Hashim Amla is to play for Hampshire for the first three months of the English County season.

He will be available for the County Championship, starting mid-April, and the One-Day competition, joining Duanne Olivier (Derbyshire) and Aiden Markram (Durham) on short-term contracts.

Amla joins a strong South African contingent at the South Coast club, who have Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Gareth Berg and Brad Wheal on their books.

The hope is that Amla’s firepower will give Hampshire an early boost in the competition.

Hampshire’s director of cricket Giles White said: ‘Hashim is an exciting acquisition for us and we feel he’ll be an excellent fit within the group we’ve got, both on and off the pitch.

‘He will add strength and depth to our batting for the first three months of the season, when runs on the board are important. Hopefully this will help us achieve that consistently in both the four-day and 50-over competitions.’

The 34-year-old batsman’s record speaks for itself, having scored more than 16,000 runs at an average of 49.61 across Tests and ODIs. He has shown himself particularly adept at English conditions, reaching a career-best 311* against England at the Oval in 2012.

Amla said: ‘Everyone I have spoken to, who have either played or are playing at Hampshire, have only had good things to say about the team.

‘It works out well for me to be able to get some high-quality cricket in before the Proteas’ tour to Sri Lanka in July.’

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix