New Zealand batter Will Young joins Northamptonshire for County Championship and One-Day Cup

The 29-year-old will be available for matches in the two competitions, as the Kiwis return to the UK for a three-Test series

Northamptonshire have signed New Zealand batter Will Young as an overseas player for next season's County Championship and One-Day Cup.

Young, who played four first-class matches for Durham during the 2021 campaign, is expected to be on UK shores as part of the Kiwis squad due to face England in three Tests next June.

The 29-year-old has played five Tests, two one-day internationals and eight T20Is for the Black Caps. He was part of the recent Test tour of India, scoring a career-best 89 in the first innings of the draw at Kanpur.

As well as averaging 42.26 against the red ball, Young has accumulated more than 10,000 runs across all three formats.

His availability next summer will be determined by how the England Tests and the domestic schedule, which is yet to be fully determined, sit in the fixture list.

He said: "I am very excited to sign with Northamptonshire for the 2022 season.

Welcome to Northamptonshire, Will Young! 🤝

The New Zealand batsman will join the club for the majority of the LV= Insurance County Championship and Royal London Cup in 2022. 💪

Full details 👉 https://t.co/n2MQuRdEsE pic.twitter.com/H74QNJCXDe

— Northamptonshire CCC (@NorthantsCCC) December 8, 2021

"I see it as a fantastic opportunity for me to continue to learn about the conditions in the UK but also to add as much as I can to the Northamptonshire environment."

News of Northants' first overseas signing follows the departure of Richard Levi after nine seasons at Wantage Road.

Head coach John Sadler, who has replaced David Ripley, added: "A couple of senior batters have moved on this year and are no longer with us for various reasons so it was really important we filled that void of a senior batter to bat up the top of the order.

"We feel like he’s a brilliant option for us, he wants to come over and enhance his own game as well as add value to our side, so he’s just a perfect fit.

"He’s world-class, he’s an international player who played beautifully last week in the Test matches, but we’ve had our eyes on him for a good couple of months really since the end of the season."