Hashim Mahomed Amla will be fondly remembered by many at Trent Bridge following his short stint with the club in early 2010.
With regular overseas recruit David Hussey occupied with the Kolkata Knight Riders and Australia in the World Twenty20, Mick Newell turned his attention to securing the services of the South African run machine.
Amla, who had previously had a stint with Essex, signed up for a seven-week spell at Trent Bridge. Making his debut for the club against Durham University, Amla scored 86 from 128 balls as Nottinghamshire amassed 505-5 declared from 108 overs.
He then followed this up with a hundred on his County Championship debut, in the club’s opening fixture of the season against Kent at Trent Bridge.
The 2006 South African Cricketer of the Year hit 129 as Chris Read’s side won by an innings and 32 runs to get their title winning season off to the best possible start.
Scores of 58 and 64 not out followed in his next match against Somerset, guiding the tail home to victory in pursuit of 250 to maintain Notts' 100 per cent Championship record.
Spells opening the batting in the CB40 competition followed for the diminutive South African, as Notts were beaten by East Midlands rivals Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road before defeating Hampshire by 35 runs in a rain affected game on the South Coast.
In the Championship fixture starting a couple of days later at the same ground, Amla failed for the first time in Nottinghamshire colours, making just 5 in the first innings.
However, in the second innings, Amla passed 50 again, making 54, as Mick Newell’s side won their third Championship match in a row, by five wickets.
Amla then contributed 67 on what was to be his final appearance at Trent Bridge as Nottinghamshire recorded their biggest Championship win of the season, by an innings and 62 runs against Will Smith’s Durham.
And whilst many will point to Adam Voges’ last day hundred at Old Trafford or Stuart Broad’s 8-52 to blow Warwickshire away at Edgbaston as defining points of that Championship winning season, it would be wrong to forget the huge contribution of the man from Natal in the early months of the 2010 season.
Hashim Mahomed Amla was born 31 March 1983 in Durban, Natal, South Africa. Amla made his First-Class debut for KwaZulu-Natal against an England XI on 3 December 1999 before captaining South Africa at the 2002 U19 World Cup in New Zealand where they lost in the final.
After captaining the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins, Amla began the 2004/05 domestic season scoring four centuries in his first eight innings. He made his Test debut for South Africa against India on 28 November 2004 in Kolkata.
Amla currently holds the record for being the fastest ever to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 ODI runs and holds the record for the highest individual Test score of any South African batsman of 311no, scored against England at The Oval in July 2012. On 8 August 2019, Amla announced his retirement from international cricket after competing in the Cricket World Cup.
He retired from all cricket in January 2023 at age 39, having played for Surrey, including as a key part of their Championship winning side of 2022, and elsewhere around the world.
Amla scored 9,282 runs - second only to Jacques Kallis' 13,206 - at an average of 46.64 in 124 Tests. He scored 18,672 in all formats for the Proteas from 2004 to 2019; at the time of his retirement, no-one had scored more than his 27 one-day centuries for South Africa.
Amla averaged 49.46 in 181 one-day internationals and 33.60 in 44 T20 internationals, and ended his First-Class career with 19,521 runs at an average of 48.55.
January 2023
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 608