Glamorgan Cricket sign Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie

English county club Glamorgan Cricket on Friday announced the signing of Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie for the Vitality Blast.

"Glamorgan Cricket is delighted to announce the signing of Ireland batsman Andrew Balbirnie for the Vitality Blast. He will be available for all 10 of the Welsh county's group stage matches," the club said in a statement.

The 29-year-old, Balbirnie, is the current Ireland Men's captain across all three formats and recently led his side to a famous victory against England in Southampton, where he struck his sixth ODI hundred as his team chased down 328.

Balbirnie has played 70 ODIs for Ireland and scored over 2,000 ODI runs with a career-best 145 not out against Afghstan last year. He has also played 43 IT20s and has scored 945 runs with four half-centuries.

Commenting after signing the contract, Balbirnie, said he is looking forward to playing in the 'fabulous competition'.

"I'm very pleased to see the deal go ahead - it's a fabulous competition, and having spent a few years in Cardiff during my university days, it's a city I know pretty well. I'm just looking forward to heading across and getting going with Glamorgan," the club's official website quoted Balbirnie as saying.

"It's a tournament I've watched a lot and have many friends who have played in it over the years, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play with new people and learn from different coaches, as well as to play in a different tournament in different conditions," he added.

Director of cricket, Mark Wallace, said: "With an injury to David Lloyd and Colin Ingram's arrival looking unlikely due to travel restrictions, we wanted to add depth to our batting."

"Andrew is a fantastic player with a strong record in the one-day formats and was in great form during the recent series against England. He is also very used to playing in our conditions and will add a lot of experience and class at the top of the order."

( With inputs from ANI )