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Yorkshire bring in Mathew Pillans from Surrey

Cricket

Yorkshire have signed Mathew Pillans on a three-year contract from Surrey, with the South Africa-born fast bowler moving on loan for the rest of the season.

Pillans joined Surrey in 2016, arriving in the UK on an ancestral visa, but has found his opportunities limited. His chief contributions at The Oval came in T20, while he also enjoyed a successful loan spell at Leicestershire last year.

The 27-year-old has an impressive record from his time with Dolphins in South Africa, and he will add to Yorkshire's pace options after Liam Plunkett agreed a move in the other direction to Surrey.

"Mat has been at Surrey for a couple of years now, and he's not had a huge amount of opportunity in the first team, so he's looking to progress his career," Yorkshire's director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, said. "We're obviously looking for that continuity of availability. He fits the bill for us.

"He's a bowler who has pace and is tall, and we're looking forward to having him on board. I'm sure he'll do well for us. He's a different type of bowler to what we've already got. We've got a strong seam bowling squad, but it's nice to have a bit of variety. Mat gives us something we haven't currently got."

Pillans has previously indicated his intention of qualifying to play for England, although he will be 31 by the time he does so. Tall and with a strong action, he is also a powerful striker with the bat.

"My initial reaction was it's great to be joining a club with great heritage," he said of the move to Yorkshire. "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.

"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. 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.

"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."

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