Middlesex sign South Africa's Pieter Malan as Handscomb's replacement

Middlesex have signed South African top-order batter Pieter Malan as a replacement for Australia's Peter Handscomb for the remaining part of the County Championship and the 50-over competition.

The development comes after Handscomb left Middlesex following their recent championship fixture to link up with the Australian-A squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Malan, who has represented South Africa in three Tests (all vs England in 2020), will be available for the entire part of the Royal London One-day Cup and the second leg of the county championship.

Following his signing, the opening batsman expressed his excitement at joining Middlesex.

"I'm very excited to be joining Middlesex. They are without a doubt one of the most prestigious counties, and being based at Lord's makes this an incredible opportunity that I'm hoping to grab with both hands," said Malan in an official statement released by the Middlesex County Club.

Alan Coleman, Middlesex's head of men's performance cricket, said that the club is thrilled to acquire the services of an experienced and quality campaigner like Malan.

"We are thrilled to have secured Pieter's signature for the rest of this season, and he will add a huge amount of experience and quality to our batting ranks." 

"As a batter, he is vastly experienced, will be a real asset to the dressing room, and we can't wait to welcome him into the club," he added.

Malan, who made his First-Class debut way back in 2007, represented Warwickshire in the last season and played a stellar role in propelling them to a title win.

In 172 FC games, the 32-year-old has accumulated 12116 runs at an average of 46.24 with the help of 48 half-centuries and 38 three-figure scores.

As far as his 50-over career is concerned, Malan has featured in 119 List-A games, scoring 4659 runs at an average of 44.79 and strike rate of 76 with the help of 22 fifties and 13 hundreds.