Big-Hitting Balbirnie Ready For A Blast With Glamorgan

Ireland batsman Andrew Balbirnie is joining Glamorgan for the Vitality Blast.

The former Cardiff Met student who put England to the sword in a ODI game at Southampton this summer will be available for all 10 of their group stage matches.

Balbirnie is the current Ireland Men’s captain across all three formats and struck his sixth one day century as he led his side in that astonishing victory chase of 328 against the world champions at the Ageas Bowl.

“I’m very pleased to see the deal go ahead – it’s a fabulous competition, and having spent a few years in Cardiff during my university days, it’s a city I know pretty well. I’m just looking forward to heading across and getting going with Glamorgan,” Balbirnie said.

“It’s a tournament I’ve watched a lot and have many friends who have played in it over the years, so I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play with new people and learn from different coaches, as well as to play in a different tournament in different conditions.

“It’s not been a great season for playing much cricket, so to be able to go over and play a short, sharp tournament of intense cricket will be enjoyable and a good way to end the summer.”

The 29-year-old has played 70 ODIs for Ireland and scored over 2,000 ODI runs with a career-best 145 not out against Afghanistan last year.

He has also played 43 IT20s and has scored 945 runs with four half-centuries.

Glamorgan Director of cricket, Mark Wallace, said: “With injury to David Lloyd and Colin Ingram’s arrival looking unlikely due to travel restrictions, we wanted to add depth to our batting.

“Andrew is a fantastic player with a strong record in the one-day formats and was in great form during the recent series against England.

“He is also very used to playing in our conditions and will add a lot of experience and class at the top of the order.”