London, March 27 (IANS): Out-of-favour West Indies fast bowler Ravi Rampaul will turn out for Surrey in the English County Championship starting next month, after signing a two-year deal with the London-based cricket club.
The 31-year-old Trinidadian will reinforce Surrey’s fast bowling stocks, especially after frontline seamer Jade Dernbach recently suffered an injury setback in his quest to overcome a stress fracture of the back, reports CMC.
He joins 20-year-old Tom Curran whose 76 wickets last season made him the joint highest wicket-taker as Surrey captured the Division Two title.
Former England captain Alec Stewart, Surrey’s Director of Cricket, said Rampaul would be a boon to the squad.
“Ravi will add experience to our seam bowling attack and we look forward to him joining the squad,” Stewart said in a statement on Saturday.
Right-armer Rampaul has taken 49 wickets from 18 Tests and 117 wickets from 92 One-Day Internationals with an economy rate of five runs per over.
He last represented the West Indies on the Caribbean side’s limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka last November but has not played a Test in four years nor a first-class game in three years.
Rampaul is expected to arrive at Surrey this weekend.