Gloucestershire signs South African pacer Marchant de Lange on three-year deal

London [UK], August 12 : Gloucestershire Cricket has signed South African pacer Marchant de Lange from Somerset on a three-year deal till the end of the 2025 season.
South African de Lange will join up with his new Gloucestershire teammates for pre-season and will add exceptional pace and bounce to the Glos bowling group for the start of the 2023 campaign. de Lange is currently registered as an overseas player but it is anticipated that he will qualify as an English domestic player ahead of the start of next season.
Consistently reaching speeds of 90mph, de Lange is effective across all formats and has played at the international level in both red and white ball cricket.
The paceman has 26 international wickets to his name across all formats, including 7/81 against Sri Lanka on his test debut, but has not represented South Africa since 2016.
At 6"7, de Lange can cause problems on even the flattest of surfaces, evidenced by his career total of 339 first-class scalps.
Dale Benkenstein will hope the extra pace pays dividends in the T20 Blast too, as de Lange brings 152 T20 wickets in 136 games with him to Glos.
On making the move up the M5, new signing de Lange said in a statement: "I am very excited to have committed my long-term future with the Club. I really look forward to working with Dale Benkenstein as we have a mutual goal for the future of Gloucestershire. I can't wait to join up with my new teammates, it is a new opportunity for me and my family, and I hope I can contribute in all formats."
"I am eager to get going, it is a fresh start for me at a new Club which is very exciting. I want to help Gloucestershire challenge for silverware and I also want to pass on advice and help the young players who are coming through the ranks."
Four Blast campaigns has rewarded the 31-year-old with 57 wickets at 21.91 apiece. de Lange took the county game by storm in 2017 as he spearheaded the Glamorgan attack taking 18 wickets, guiding the Welsh club to its first finals day since 2004.
In his five seasons playing county cricket for Somerset and Glamorgan, de Lange picked up a total of 90 first-class wickets and 40 List A wickets.
In addition to his prowess with the ball, de Lange holds the record for the fastest red ball hundred for Glamorgan, scoring a career-best 113 as he passed the century mark in just 62 balls v Northants in 2020. Glos fans will hope for that same explosiveness when the South African takes guard for The Shire.
Steve Snell, Performance Director at Gloucestershire, added: "We would like to welcome Marchant to Gloucestershire, I feel Marchant will add a point of difference with his extreme pace and a career record of taking a high volume of wickets. Marchant will add significant firepower to our squad with the ball, and I believe he will be a figure of positive influence in and around the dressing room."
"Marchant has a high level of experience of cricket around the world, in all formats, and during our negotiations with him, it is clear he is very motivated towards further successes on the field," he concluded.