NEW Essex signing Hamish Rutherford is an overseas player who ticks all the boxes, according to coach Paul Grayson.
The 24-year-old Kiwi joins the county as a replacement for Rob Quiney whose shoulder injury has forced the end of his tenure with the Essex squad.
Rutherford, who plays first-class cricket for Otago, is currently in this country as part of the Black Caps' Test and Twenty20 squad but will become available for all formats of the game once those schedules have been completed.
Grayson is delighted that the county have been able to bring the talented left-hander in for the remainder of the season.
"He is someone who ticks all the boxes. He's in the country, he has a visa and he's a good replacement for Rob.
"It's an opportunity for him to play league cricket and we welcome him to the club.
"I'm sure he'll have a massive impact.
"The coaching staff and myself look forward to working with him and are pleased that he is joining Essex.
"He is an attacking opening batsman that will definitely benefit us in both the Yorkshire Bank 40 competition and Friends Life t20 too.
"I was very impressed with how he played for New Zealand this winter against England and Hamish comes highly recommended from some good judges in the game, so will be a great acquisition for us I'm sure."
Rutherford quickly acclimatised to English conditions when he took 126 off the England Lions attack in a warm-up game at Leicester recently. He won the first of his three Test caps when selected to play for his country against England at Auckland in February 2013 and it proved to be a stunning debut.
The left-handed opening batsman struck 171 at Dunedin in March 2013, the seventh highest score on Test debut. In 25 first-class matches, he has accumulated 1,954 runs at 44.50 including a highest-score of 239 for Otago against Wellington in the Plunket Shield in March 2012. He has completed five other first-class hundreds plus seven half-centuries.
Son of former New Zealand captain Ken, in the 2011-12 Plunket Shield, Rutherford hit three centuries in four matches.
He has also made three T20 international appearances, all against England with his debut at Auckland in February 2013. In 45 T20 career innings including internationals, he has scored 952 runs at 21.15 embracing three half-centuries with a highest score of 87.
A renowned T20 specialist, Rutherford becomes the second Essex overseas signing for the competition joining Australian Test bowler Shaun Tait.
He is expected to make his first appearance for the county in the Yorkshire Bank 40 match with Scotland at the Essex County Ground on Sunday, June 2.
