Northants sign South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell for whole 2021 campaign

Northants have signed former Worcestershire Rapids all-rounder Wayne Parnell

Northants have made their second overseas signing with the capture of South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell for the 2021 season.

The 31-year-old has put pen to paper on a one-year contract that will see him available to play in all formats of the game this summer.

The Steelbacks have already announced that Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi will be joining the club to play in the Vitality T20 Blast.

A left-handed batsman and left-arm seam bowler, Parnell has previously played in the UK for Kent, Sussex, Glamorgan and most recently Worcestershire, where he played a key role as a Kolpak signing in 2018 and 2019.

Wayne Parnell was part of the Worcestershire Rapids team that won the T20 Blast in 2018 and reached the final 12 months later

He helped the Rapids to T20 Blast glory in 2018 as well as the final the following year, when they lost to Essex.

Unable to travel to England in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Parnell was released by the New Road club before Christmas after he lost his status as a Kolpak.

Parnell joins Northants as an overseas player and will be available for selection in the LV= County Championship, the T20 Blast and the Royal London One Day Cup.

Vastly experienced, Parnell has played six Tests for South Africa, in which he took 15 wickets at 27.6, as well as 65 one day internationals and 40 T20 internationals.

In ODIs, he averaged 21.6 with the bat with a top score of 56, while with the ball he claimed 94 wickets at 29 apiece with best figures of five for 48.

In T20 internationals, he averaged 28.5 with the bat at a strike-rate of 118 and he claimed 41 wickets at 25.31, taking a scalp every 18 balls.

Parnell's first-class record is impressive, although he hasn't played any red ball cricket since September, 2019 due to Covid-19.

In his 75 matches to date, he has scored more than 2,500 runs at 27.8 and scored two centuries and 15 half-centuries, and also bagged 220 wickets at 29.73 with career-best figures of seven for 51.

In List A cricket he has played 165 matches, scoring 2,087 runs at more than 25 with a top score of 129, and also took 233 wickets at a strike-rate of a wicket every 32 balls with a best haul of six for 51.

Parnell's T20 career has also been fruitful over his 207 matches.

He has totalled 1,461 runs at a strike-rate of 123.7 with a top score of 99 and taken 209 wickets at 25.44 at a strike-rate of 19.4.

Like most players, Parnell's career has been put somewhat on hold by the coronavirus pandemic, but he has recently been in action for the Northern Warriors in the Abu Dhabu T10 tournament.

The County begin their County Championship campaign in a month's time when they host Kent at Wantage Road on April 8.