Khawaja heading back to Derbyshire

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Australia batsman Usman Khawaja is set to represent Derbyshire for a second successive season after agreeing to rejoin the club in 2012

Derbyshire have announced Usman Khawaja will return to the club as their overseas player for the second half of the 2012 season.

The 25-year-old Australia batsman enjoyed a two-month stint at the County Ground last summer and will rejoin the club ahead of the Friends Life t20 in June before staying on for the remainder of the domestic season.

New Zealand’s Martin Guptill had already been secured by Derbyshire for the first two months of the campaign. Attempts to secure a second overseas player for the FLt20 are ongoing.

Derbyshire head coach Karl Krikken said: “Usman is a talented and prolific batsman with an excellent future. We are delighted to bring him back to the County Ground.

“We were hugely impressed with Usman during his previous spell with the club and the 2012 season will give him the opportunity of settling into a longer spell and hopefully scoring plenty of runs.”

Chairman Chris Grant added: “It’s good to have our overseas berth sorted for the coming season and I’m excited by the prospect of both Martin and Usman returning to the club.

“They will be better players from the experience of last season and we know what we are getting in terms of their attitude, professionalism and contribution to the squad.

“In addition, Karl, (chief executive) Keith Loring and I are continuing to work hard to recruit the services of a proven match changer for the Friends Life t20 campaign.”

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