Surrey sign Adam Zampa for T20 Blast

Surrey have acquired the services of Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa for their next four matches in the T20 Blast competition.

The experienced campaigner will arrive ahead of the double-header featuring Surrey’s women’s and men’s teams against Essex at the Kia Oval on Sunday, July 6.

Zampa is Australia’s leading wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game with 117 scalps to his name. He was also the first Australian bowler to pick up 100 wickets in T20Is. Zampa won the 2021 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup with the Men in Yellow.

The wily spinner has played in different T20 leagues around the world, like the Indian Premier League, Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, and Major League Cricket, among others. The 33-year-old has accounted for 363 wickets from 298 T20 games at an average of 21.72 and a strike rate of 17.50. His economy rate is also a decent 7.43.

After joining Surrey, Zampa expressed his excitement and said that he is eager to experience how much playing for the Brown Caps means.

“I can’t wait to get going for Surrey and to play in front of the Kia Oval crowd once again. It’s one of the great grounds in the world to play the game and I know how much playing for Surrey means to the lads so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s all about,” Zampa told Surrey’s website.

Zampa will also play for Surrey against Gloucestershire in Bristol, then at home against Glamorgan on July 11 and Somerset a couple of days later. If Surrey manage to make it to the knockout stages of the T20 Blast, Zampa will be available for the quarter-finals and Finals Day in September.

Australia are currently playing a three-match Test series against Australia. This series will be followed by a five-match T20I series, which gets underway on July 21 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

Alec Stewart, High Performance Cricket Advisor at Surrey CCC, was happy to have Zampa in the lineup. The former England wicketkeeper-batter praised Zampa’s on-field skills and described him as a great character off it.

“Adam Zampa is one of the finest T20 spinners in world cricket and I’m excited to welcome him to Surrey for the Blast. He brings a wealth of experience and technical skills on the pitch and great character off it,” Stewart stated.