Derbyshire swoop for veteran Law

Stuart Law has been one of the great overseas imports into English county cricket

Derbyshire have snapped up former Australia batsman Stuart Law on a limited-overs contract for the coming season.

Law, 40, who has scored hatfuls of runs for Essex and Lancashire in 13 years of county cricket, left Old Trafford at the end of last season.

One of the 43 players to have scored a century in Twenty20 cricket, Law will be available for the Phantoms' Twenty20 Cup and Friends Provident Trophy campaigns.

He gained British citizenship in 2005 and will count as a non-overseas player for the county.

Derbyshire head of cricket John Morris said: “Stuart is a vastly experienced cricketer who will slot into out batting order in one-day cricket and will be a great influence on other players around him.

“With over two decades of first-class and limited-overs experience, playing in Australia and England, he has knowledge of how to perform in all situations and in all conditions.

“The best part about it is that he is very keen to come and play for us and is excited about playing a part in what we want to achieve in one-day cricket.

Law played in 54 one-day internationals for Australia, including the 1996 World Cup, which they lost to Sri Lanka.

He scored a single century against Zimbabwe in Hobart in 1994, and also struck seven ODI fifties.

But such was Australia’s depth of batting talent, that the Queenslander was restricted to a single Test appearance, striking 54 not out against Sri Lanka in Perth in 1995.

Law spent six years as Essex’s overseas player between 1996 and 2001, consistently passing 1,000 first-class runs a season.

Law joined Lancashire in 2002 and the runs showed no signs of drying up. He took on the Lancashire captaincy for last season. But his links with a rebel cricket league were part of the reason for him leaving Old Trafford at the end of the campaign.

He currently has 27,041 first-class runs and 79 hundreds to his name.

Law added: “I am very happy to be committing to Derbyshire. They are an up-and-coming club with a good mixture of youth and experience and I look forward to helping out some of the younger guys in the squad.

“I still have the hunger and drive to succeed at this level and I can’t wait to join the side and get stuck into the new and exciting challenge ahead.

“Doing well personally isn’t the be-all and end-all, as long as the team achieves its goals and takes positive steps.”