Middlesex Cricket is thrilled to announce the signing of Leus du Plooy, who will join the Club for the start of the 2024 season and has signed a long-term contract until the end of 2028.
He will be available to play for Middlesex in all formats of the game, subject to his commitments with the Hundred, and will add both quality and experience to the Middlesex line-up.
The 28-year-old has just short of 11,000 career runs to his name in all formats, with over 6,350 of those coming in the First-Class game. He has hit eighteen First-Class hundreds, and five in the List-A format of the game, combined with 59 half-centuries across all three formats. In First-Class cricket he averages 47.17, in List-A cricket 54.10 and in the T20 format 31.53.
The South African born left-hander has played at Derbyshire since moving to England in 2019, and to date has made 123 appearances for the Club in all formats. This season alone, in nine County Championship matches, he has hit three centuries for Derbyshire, plus another four half-centuries, and is averaging 98.10 in the first-class game, with a highest score of 238 not out.
He played in the inaugural year of the Hundred in 2021, having been signed by the Welsh Fire, where he again played in 2022, although in 2023 he will represent Southern Brave, who signed him as their most expensive domestic signing, when he was bought for £125,000 in the Hundred draft in March.
On securing the long-term services of du Plooy for Middlesex, the Club’s Director of Cricket, Alan Coleman, commented:
“We are delighted that Leus has chosen to join Middlesex Cricket and are really excited about what he will bring to the group.
“Leus is a player that we have admired for a long time, and he will make a significant difference to our squad in all forms of the game.
“The fact that Middlesex were one of several counties chasing his signature, with his contract with Derbyshire finishing this year, is testament to not only his abilities as a cricketer but to him as an individual, and we are just so pleased that he’ll be heading to Lord’s. He is the kind of player and person who will add so much to our dressing room.
“The fact that he is Southern Brave’s most expensive domestic signing this year in the Hundred, in the top value bracket of players, shows what a world-class striker of the ball he is, and he will be a huge boost to our T20 squad as well as our red-ball squad.
“We can’t wait to welcome Leus to Lord’s and look forward to him enjoying a long and successful career with the Club. He will play a big part of everything we are looking to achieve moving forwards here at Middlesex.”
On signing for Middlesex, Leus du Plooy himself commented:
“I’m incredibly honoured and extremely excited to begin this new chapter with Middlesex Cricket.
“Lord’s is a special place to play, and it’ll be surreal to call it my home ground next year.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone and forming new relationships, creating special memories and improve my game at such a prestigious club.”
