BBL 2019 | Brisbane Heat announce monumental signing of AB de Villiers

In what could potentially be a ground-breaking move for the competition, BBL franchise Brisbane Heat have acquired the services of legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers for the forthcoming edition of the tournament. After failing to make the play-offs in the 2018 edition of the tournament, the Queensland-based franchise has now couped de Villiers for BBL 2019, as a potential replacement for another T20 veteran, Brendon McCullum. 

"I like to be at home over the Christmas and New year period, but I couldn't say no to coming to Brisbane and joining in on the fun," de Villiers was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"It's one of the best tournaments around and I've been following it for a while now. From what I've heard from other players who have played there, it's just all positives. The standard of cricket is good, and they get big crowds," he added.

After having enjoyed a successful stint with Middlesex in the Vitality Blast earlier this year and having plied his trade in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Proteas legend will set foot into Aussie soil for the first time in his career.

The 35-year-old expressed his excitement over joining the Heat, a franchise that plays an extremely aggressive brand of cricket, and also heaped praise on coach Darren Lehmann for the efforts he'd taken to eventually convince de Villiers to sign up with the franchise. 

"I must also say the Brisbane Heat have always stood out to me. They play the kind of cricket that I want to play - it's quite aggressive and they go after the attack. And the Gabba is a beautiful cricket ground. It's got a great wicket and games are always of a high quality," de Villiers said. 

"I was in close contact with Darren over email and that was a big part of the reason why I am coming over (to the BBL)," de Villiers said. "He certainly pushed me over the edge. He's a great guy and I am sure we will get to know each other well over the tournament.

"I've always had a lot of respect for the way he played his game and the way he handled everything when he was with the Aussie team, and I am sure I can learn a bit from him with my batting," he concluded.

Brisbane Heat will clash with Sydney Thunder in the first match of the 2019 edition of BBL at the GABBA on December 17th.