South Africa legend AB de Villiers set for County Ground comeback this summer

AB de Villiers is making his cricketing comeback this summer, and is set to play at the County Ground in NorthamptonAB de Villiers is making his cricketing comeback this summer, and is set to play at the County Ground in Northampton
AB de Villiers is making his cricketing comeback this summer, and is set to play at the County Ground in Northampton
South Africa cricketing legend AB de Villiers is coming out of retirement this summer - and he is set to strut his stuff at the County Ground in Northampton.

The 40-year-old, who retired from playing in all forms of cricket in 2021, has confirmed that he is going to don the pads once again to captain his country in the 2025 World Championship of Legends T20 tournament, which is returning to Northampton for a two-day stint this July.

And he is going to be in pretty good company, as it has been confirmed the likes of England World Cup winner Moeen Ali will feature in the competition, along with Pakistan's former Steelbacks all-rounder Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed.

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Indian leg Spinner Piyush Chawla and white ball specialist Kedhar Jadhav are also confirmed to be involved along with Suresh Raina and IPL star Shikhar Dhawan, while speed king Brett Lee will turn out for Australia and Dwayne Smith and Sheldon Cottrell for the West Indies.

But it is the return of de Villiers that has grabbed the attention.

The hard-hitting batter scored close to 10,000 runs for South Africa in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, and admits he is itching to get back out in the middle and perform again.

“I’m heading back to the gym and the nets, and I’ll be ready for the WCL in July,” said the 40-year-old.

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"Four years ago, I retired from all cricket because I just didn’t feel the urge to play anymore.

"Well, time has passed, and my young sons have started playing the game. We’ve been playing more and more often in the garden, and, well, it feels as though some kind of flame has been lit again.”

The tournament was staged for the first time in 2024, with the matches being split between thre County Ground and Edgbaston, and the venues are once again on the itinerary in 2025, along with Grace Road in Leicester and Headingley in Leeds.

It has been announced the County Ground will stage three matches over the course of two days, with Tuesday (July 22) seeing an exciting double header as India take on De Villiers’ South Africa, followed by England squaring up to the West Indies.

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The West Indies are then back in action on Wednesday (July 23) when they do battle with Australia.

Tickets for both days at the County Ground are priced at £20 for adults and £7 for juniors, and are available to buy now from nccc.co.uk

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