Retiring Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum has signed to play limited-overs cricket for English county side Middlesex next year.
Retiring Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum. Photo: Photosport
The 34-year-old will join the team when his Indian Premier League stint comes to an end, and stay in the UK until 25 June.
He could potentially appear in seven Twenty20 Blast matches and four in the 50-over One-Day Cup.
McCullum announced on Tuesday that he would retire from international cricket in February following a two-Test series against Australia in New Zealand.
He has played 99 Tests, 254 one-day internationals and 71 T20 games for the Black Caps, scoring more than 14,000 runs in the process.
McCullum has hit 381 sixes for New Zealand in all forms of the game - 100 in Tests, 190 in ODIs and 91 in T20 - and 1,503 fours.
"Signing a player of Brendon's undoubted quality is a huge coup for the club," said Middlesex managing director of cricket Angus Fraser.
"He is one of the most respected, capable and dangerous cricketers in world cricket and will create a great deal of excitement around the club."
Middlesex hope McCullum will be able to return to the county should they reach the knockout stages of either or both competitions next summer.
He has previously played county cricket for Glamorgan and Sussex, and last summer played 11 games in the T20 Blast for Birmingham Bears - hitting a competition-record 158 not out off 64 balls during a group game against Derbyshire.
"I am delighted to be joining such an auspicious county as Middlesex and very much look forward to playing at the home of cricket," McCullum said.
The Black Caps next play a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, starting in Christchurch on Boxing Day.