Derbyshire sign New Zealand's Matt Henry as overseas T20 player

Derbyshire have confirmed the signing of New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry as their overseas player for the 2017 T20 Blast.

Henry, 25, has featured 30 times in one-day internationals for the Black Caps, in addition to six caps in Twenty20 and will link up with Derbyshire following a spell with Indian Premier League side Kings XI Punjab.

The Christchurch native has played county cricket before, having racked up experience with Worcestershire during the 2016 campaign, and will be available to Derbyshire for the entire T20 Blast throughout July and August.

In his 59 T20 fixtures throughout his career to date Henry has claimed 52 wickets at an average of 29, and the right-arm fast-medium bowler will work with fellow Kiwi John Wright at the County Ground, with Wright having been appointed as a specialist T20 coach in October.

"I've been liaising with John Wright and Matt was one of his first picks. He came highly recommended as a fast bowler and also someone with a high strike-rate with the bat down the order," said Derbyshire director of cricket Kim Barnett.

"One of John's key areas for this summer's competition is to keep the runs down, and with the attack we've assembled, which also includes Hardus Viljoen and Imran Tahir, we've given ourselves the best chance of doing this."