Derbyshire CCC captain Wayne Madsen targets England call up

Derbyshire’s South African-born Captain, who is now available for England selection, joined the club in 2009 and has since featured in 193 games scoring over 8,500 runs.

Madsen says his focus is to score heavy runs for Derbyshire and hopes a successful summer will put him in the frame for an international call-up.

“I am really honoured and excited to be qualified for England,” Madsen said.

“This has always been on my mind since I moved here. I committed myself to playing cricket over here with Derbyshire and it’s exciting now to be available to play for England.

“I have realistic ambitions of making it to the national team. But there’s a lot of hard work ahead and I need to score a lot of runs this season and over the next few years.

“I think my form over the last couple of seasons has been really good. If I can continue to do well and score a lot of runs then that gives me the best opportunity to represent England.

“I do now see myself as English,” Madsen added. “My wife Kyla and I live in Derbyshire and we absolutely love it.

“All my family back in South Africa are delighted for me. I have come from a rich heritage of South African sportsmen and sportswomen so they are extremely proud of me and what I have achieved for Derbyshire.

“Derbyshire is a great county to live in. The people are extremely friendly and we really enjoy living here in general. We are both very proud and privileged to be a part of the community here.”