Derbyshire have re-signed Ravi Rampaul, the leading wicket-taker in the 2019 Vitality Blast, for their final three group games over the duration of this year's competition and the Royal London Cup.
Rampaul, 36, spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons at Derbyshire as a Kolpak registration, but did not return last summer due to restrictions on international travel and finances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the winter, he was Trinidad and Tobago's leading wicket-taker for the regional Super 50 domestic competition title and played for Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10. He has since been recruited to the CPL by Trinbago Knight Riders for this season, his first contract in the competition since 2017.
Derbyshire Blasts North are at the bottom of the group with three games left, and need to win all three to have a chance to qualify. They have struggled badly this season with injuries, particularly to their fast bowlers, and have had to recruit Jade Dornbach as cover on a short-term loan from Surrey. Rampaul would be his second overseas player for a run-in with Logan van Beek, in which Ben McDermott (international duty) and Billy Stanlake (stress fracture) were both eliminated before the start of the group stage.
They will also be without the top three players due to contracts at the Hundred - Matt Critchley, Louis Rees and Luis du Pluy - during the Royal London Cup, while Wayne Madsen has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. While Rampaul is unlikely to add cover to his batting prowess, he brings experience to a young bowling line-up.
Dave Houghton, the club's director of cricket, said: "It is a shock to us that we will lose some quality players for the Royal London Cup, but we are proud of the players who have been selected for the Hundred.
"We will get, and we have brought in a top-class bowler to help with that. We will have a competitive side. It's a great opportunity for some of our players who are experts in white-ball cricket - we have to hope that in them." The best will come out.
"I've always felt that we had some unfinished business. Ravi had such a great season in 2019 - he was the Club Player of the Year - but we lost him for a year due to the pandemic. Our bowlers are on leaps and bounds. We have come this year, but Ravi's ability for us and any of the class openings and closings, which is something we have missed this season, is going to be fantastic."
Rampaul said: "I loved my first spell with Derbyshire and am looking forward to starting again in familiar surroundings. I still know most of the players, and there are some newcomers who are really exciting young players. If I can help with him in training and games, I will do that, and hopefully we can get on a roll and challenge for the knockouts."