South Africa's Rudolph to join Yorkshire

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 23 (Reuters) South Africa batsman Jacques Rudolph has signed a three-year deal with English county Yorkshire and will be unavailable for his country during this time.

''This was not a decision to take lightly and I discussed the matter fully with (South Africa coach) Mickey Arthur and (convener of selectors) Haroon Lorgat, Rudolph said in a statement today.

''We all agreed that this experience would be good for my cricket. Cricket is a game where you have to learn and improve all the time, and I believe that playing county cricket will give me new and valuable experience.'' Rudolph will join Yorkshire under the Kolpak ruling so will not count as an overseas player for the county but as part of the deal had to declare he would not play for South Africa while at the club, a spokeswoman for Yorkshire said.

The 25-year-old left-hander will be withdrawn from the South African squad to play Pakistan in the third test in Cape Town from Friday.

Rudolph has played 35 tests for South Africa but he has not found a place in the starting lineup since last August in Sri Lanka. He had been included in South Africa's provisional squad for the World Cup, although his last one-day international was against Australia in Sydney in February 2006.

''The county experience would make him a better player at this stage of his career,'' Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola said.

''CSA has nurtured Jacques's talent since he was a teenager and we regard him as one of our national assets. ''However, he is only 25 and the general view is that with this added experience in county conditions, he will become a more rounded player.'' REUTERS DH MIR RAI2109