The Sri Lankan cricket star Mahela Jayawardene will play for Central Districts in this summer's Twenty20 competition.
The Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The prolific Sri Lankan batsman retired from international cricket at the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 after scoring more than 10,000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket for his country.
His final International Twenty20 match was Sri Lanka's ICC World Twenty20 Championship Final victory over India in April 2014.
More recently Jayawardene has made significant contributions to the Twenty20 campaigns of the Sussex Sharks in the 2015 English T20 Blast and the Jamaica Tallawahs in the 2015 Caribbean Premier League.
He said he was looking forward to adding the Central Districts region to his list of homes away from home.
"I'm thrilled to be playing for the Stags in this year's Super Smash," Jayawardene said on the CD website.
"I've enjoyed playing in New Zealand throughout my career and playing for one of the leading domestic teams will be a new and exciting challenge."
Jayawardene's involvement has been made possible through a partnership between the Central Districts Cricket Association and the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT).
He will act as brand ambassador for NMIT and undertake a range of promotional activities on behalf of the educational institution including social media and attendance at events in Sri Lanka and New Zealand over the coming 12 months.
Central Stags Coach Heinrich Malan is excited to be able to include the vastly experienced Sri Lankan in the Stags team for the final month of the Super Smash competition.
"Mahela's incredible talent and vast experience will add enormous value to our already talented but still youthful team of players in the back half of the Super Smash" said Malan.
Jayawardene will play his first match for the Stags against the Wellington Firebirds at Nelson's Saxton Oval on November 19th.
