Leus du Plooy

Middle-order batter Leus du Plooy had a substantial body of work in South African domestic cricket when he arrived at Derbyshire in 2019, where he registered as a non-overseas player thanks to his Hungarian passport. He was the leading scorer in the 2018-19 CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge, when Northerns made the final on the back of his 593 runs in nine innings, and since his debut, he had racked up nine first-class hundreds and an average of 48.

Du Plooy quickly he established himself as one of Derbyshire's most reliable batters across formats. In that 2019 summer, he averaged nearly 40 in the County Championship, and helped Derbyshire reach Blast Finals Day for the first time in their history.

He was drafted by Welsh Fire in the Hundred, becoming one of the few players to enhance their reputation as the club struggled through the first two seasons of the competition. In 2021 and 2022, he had good Blast seasons again, and when Billy Godleman stepped down as Derbyshire captain that second year, du Plooy was named as his replacement. The following season, he was No. 2 on the county Division Two run-makers' list, with 1236 runs at over 82. That year he made his Hungary debut in a T10 against Finland, scoring 93 and taking three wickets in a win. In 2024, he moved counties, to Middlesex, and nearly breached the 1000-run mark again.

Du Plooy's T20 stocks were rising as well, as he demonstrated by topping the run charts for Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 in 2023-24; that season and the one before, he helped Kings get to the playoffs, though they bowed out there.