South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has signed up for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam, becoming the latest among a slew of current and former international cricketers to confirm their participation in the league.
Steyn will feature as one of the league’s ‘marquee’ players, joining six other players to have received the honour. The others are Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and Babar Azam, Shane Watson and Chris Lynn from Australia, and New Zealanders Brendon McCullum and Luke Ronchi.
🚨 BREAKING: @DaleSteyn62 joins the #EuroT20Slam as a Marquee Player 🇿🇦🙌🏻#ET20S pic.twitter.com/NRnt3ugGAZ
— Euro T20 Slam (@et20s) July 1, 2019
The league is also set to feature several other high-profile players, including Steyn’s South Africa team-mates JP Duminy and Imran Tahir, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, and Eoin Morgan, the England limited-overs captain.
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Steyn’s signing comes in the wake of questions over his durability in international cricket, after yet another shoulder injury ruled him out of the 2019 World Cup. Steyn was a part of the 15 for both of South Africa’s warm-up matches, against Sri Lanka and West Indies, but did not bat or bowl. A Cricket South Africa release said that Steyn’s shoulder, which he had injured during the Indian Premier League, “has not responded to treatment and has ruled him out of bowling for the foreseeable future”.
The Euro T20 Slam will be jointly hosted by the cricket boards of Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, with each country being represented by two franchises, making for a total of six teams in the competition. The tournament is set to kick off on August 30, with 33 matches scheduled to be played, before concluding on September 22.