North heads for south Wales

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Marcus North's last Australia appearance was in December's second Ashes Test. He has since lost his central contract, freeing him to join Glamorgan

Glamorgan have signed Australia batsman Marcus North on a two-year contract.

North will replace skipper Alviro Petersen as overseas player for the next two years. That means Glamorgan will have a third captain in as many seasons with Petersen having replaced Jamie Dalrymple, who has since returned to Middlesex.

North – who has played in 21 Tests, two one-day and one Twenty20 international – looks set to have made his last international appearance, having lost his central contract in June.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who last played for Australia in December’s second Ashes match, has scored five Test hundreds, including 125 not out in the 2009 Ashes game at Cardiff. He bowls serviceable off-spin, with career-best figures of 6-55 against Pakistan at Lord’s last summer.

Glamorgan, where he will link up with Australian coach Matthew Mott, will be North’s sixth county after Derbyshire, Durham, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Lancashire.

North said: “I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that Glamorgan has given me to come back and play domestic cricket in the UK.

“I am looking forward to working closely with Matthew Mott and being part of the challenges and hard work that we face as a squad in bringing success back to Wales.”

“After spending the best part of the last 10 summers in England, my family and I are extremely excited to experience what Wales has to offer.”

Colin Metson, manager director of cricket, said: “After announcing contract extensions for Gareth Rees and Mark Wallace last week, we are delighted that another piece of the jigsaw is in place and that Marcus is arriving as our overseas player for 2012 and 2013.

“Marcus has had an outstanding career in both international and domestic cricket and we look forward to seeing him score plenty of runs and taking wickets for Glamorgan.”