It’s great to be joining a club with great heritage: Pillans signs for Yorkshire

The 27-year-old will make the switch from the Kia Oval at the expiration of his current deal, which is due to expire in October

^{Mathew Pillans is joining Yorkshire from Surrey}

Yorkshire have signed bowler Mathew Pillans from Surrey on a three-year contract.

The 27-year-old will make the switch from the Kia Oval at the expiration of his current deal, which is due to expire in October.

Pillans, a South Africa native who harbours ambitions to play for England, qualifies as a domestic player thanks to an ancestral visa.

"It’s great to be joining a club with great heritage,” he told the club's official website. “It’s quite an honour, and I felt proud when I signed the contract.

"It was a bit out of the blue. I hadn’t really got anything planned to be honest. Being my last year at Surrey, I was just focusing on the cricket.

"The talent that Surrey have there made it a competitive environment. In that sense, to feed off the talent, I feel my game improved quite a bit being there.

^{Pillans has signed a three-year deal at Headingley}

"In saying that, I feel I have bit more to offer given what I’ve learnt. It will great to put that into practice when I get to Yorkshire."

Pillans will qualify for England selection in four years' time.

"From a personal point of view, my number one objective is to improve my game as much as I can and be the best cricketer I can be," he said.

"I’m coming into another talented changing room, so hopefully I can continue to learn. Hopefully there’s also something I can add to the party with that as well.

"As soon as I qualify for England, I want to be up to that standard. That’s a long-term goal, though."

MATHEW PILANS: CAREER STATS

First-class: 40 matches, 129 wickets, ave 27.29, 3 5w, 1 10w

List A: 12 matches, 16 wickets, ave 21.50

T20: 34 matches, 35 wickets, ave 25.82, eco 8.43