{
    "id": "22670",
    "author": "13",
    "cnmid": "0",
    "title": "South Africans Abbott, Rossouw leave country for England county",
    "lang": "en",
    "series": "20",
    "cup_year": "2016",
    "article_type": "General",
    "excerpt": "",
    "subtype": "",
    "editor1": "<p>Johannesburg, Jan 5 (CRICKETNMORE): South Africa&#39;s left-handed top order batsman Rilee Rossouw and pacer Kyle Abbot&#39;s dreams of representing the national side are virtually over as the duo on Thursday signed long-term contracts with England&#39;s domestic cricket side Hampshire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Abbott has joined the county on a four-year Kolpak deal after talks with Cricket South Africa (CSA) failed to convince the fast bowler to continue playing for his country.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Rossouw also joined the county as a Kolpak-registered player on a three-year contract.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Under the Kolpak deal, a player gives up the right to play for his country, meaning he is not classed as an overseas-player signing.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/t20s-have-made-the-difference-says-batting-star-smith--22655\"><span style=\"color:#008080;\"><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;T20s have made the difference, says batting star Dwayne Smith<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Kolpak ruling ensures players from any nation with a trading relationship with the European Union can freely play as a professional.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Commenting on the development, Abbott said he was delighted to join the club and is confident of giving a much more improved performance in coming seasons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&quot;I am delighted to be joining Hampshire for the 2017 season onwards. I have an extremely strong affection with the Club given my previous stints there and can&#39;t wait to get the ball in my hand at the start of the season,&quot; Abbott was quoted as saying by SuperSport.com.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Thanking CSA for the opportunities, the 29-year-old said: &quot;I would also like to express my thanks to Cricket South Africa and the Warriors for their understanding during this process.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&quot;Making the decision to commit my long term future to Hampshire was undoubtedly the most difficult one I have ever had to make and I leave with more than a little sadness knowing that I won&#39;t represent the Proteas again.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&quot;Representing my country was undoubtedly the biggest honour in my career and I am very thankful for the opportunity to have represented South Africa and the Proteas,&quot; he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The 27-year-old Rossouw on his part said, &quot;I can confirm that I have agreed and signed a three-year deal with Hampshire Cricket. Deciding to leave South Africa is something I have thought long and hard about and moving to England will give me and my family the long term career security that I believe is important at this stage of my life.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&quot;I have loved representing the Proteas and will watch from afar with great affection every time they take the field from now on but I am hugely dedicated to making Hampshire cricket successful on the field.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&quot;I would like to express my thanks to Cricket South Africa for the opportunity to represent my country and also for the Knights for their continued support,&quot; he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The CSA announced it had terminated Abbott&#39;s national contract by mutual agreement and with immediate effect, and that it was in the process of following a similar process for Rossouw.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&quot;It is a disappointing day not just for South African cricket but also for international cricket as these players have given up their opportunity to be seen in action on the international circuit,&quot; CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n",
    "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2017\/01\/rilee-rossouw2.jpg",
    "alt_img": "Rilee Rossouw Image",
    "alt_title": "Rilee Rossouw",
    "image1": "",
    "video": "",
    "seo_title": "South Africans Abbott, Rossouw leave country for England county",
    "seo_desc": "South Africans Abbott, Rossouw leave country for England countyJohannesburg, Jan 5 (CRICKETNMORE): South Africa&#39;s left-handed top order batsman Rilee Rossou",
    "seo_keywords": "Rilee Rossouw, Cricket South Africa",
    "tag": "",
    "tagging": "",
    "status": "1",
    "img_rpt": "0",
    "google": "0",
    "standout": "0",
    "edapps": "0",
    "pulse": "0",
    "no_index": "0",
    "feed": "0",
    "fixture": "0",
    "slug": "south-africans-abbott-rossouw-leave-country-for-england-county",
    "user_id": "0",
    "read_count": "0",
    "ians_date": "0000-00-00",
    "ians_time": "00:00:00",
    "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00",
    "trash": "0",
    "view_count": "2181",
    "page_break": "0",
    "instant_articles": "0",
    "auto_link": "0",
    "created": "2017-01-05 23:44:00",
    "updated": "2017-01-05 23:44:00",
    "img_from": "",
    "img_source": "",
    "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00",
    "news_keywords": null,
    "livescore_text": null,
    "livescore_link": null,
    "btn_text": null,
    "resend_feed": "0",
    "google_feed": "0",
    "read_more": "0",
    "posted_by": "1",
    "jio_date": "2017-01-05 23:44:00",
    "scheduled": "0",
    "news_now": "1",
    "breaking_news": "0",
    "google_date": "2017-01-05 23:44:00",
    "featured": "0",
    "pred_match_id": null,
    "article_content_type": null,
    "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/south-africans-abbott-rossouw-leave-country-for-england-county-22670"
}