Lascelles Hall have raised a few eyebrows with the late signing of Durham batsman Michael Richardson to play in the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League

The South Africa-born 28-year-old hit 15 fours and six sixes in his 125 at Linthwaite on the opening day of the Jedi Sports Championship section.

The Hall powered to a five-wicket win on the back of his knock, although he claimed four for 61 in 13 overs of off-spin as Linthwaite posted a total of 258 all out.

Richardson – who helped Durham to a seven-wicket County Championship victory against Somerset last week, hitting 59 and 28 – shared a stand of 130 with John Booth (41) as Lascelles Hall got home in 38 overs.

“Michael is UK qualified but he didn’t have his passport, which is being renewed,” explained Lascelles Hall’s opening batsman Jonny Bishop.

“We did manage to get his Certificate of Nationalisation, though, which proves he’s a British citizen because he’s played for Durham since 2010 – so it was a classic transfer-deadline signing!

“He has come to us because he’s a mate of Sam Scott’s – they played together out in South Africa – and last Thursday Michael was looking for somewhere to get a game.

“It’s obviously brilliant to have him on board and not only was his 125 one of the best I’ve ever seen, but he was great in the dressing room and came back up to Lascelles Hall after the match.”

The Hall don’t know if Richardson – the son of ICC chief executive Dave Richardson, the former South Africa wicketkeeper – will be available for this coming Saturday’s home match against Clayton West because Durham have a Championship Division One game against Sussex starting the following day.

“We are hoping he might be able to play as many as eight matches for us this season, depending on what happens with the one-day stuff later in the season, but we are delighted to have Michael signed up,” added Bishop.

“Some of the sixes he hit were so big they were 12s, and if it hadn’t been for the trees, one of the buses on Manchester Road would have been in serious danger!”

Richardson hit 1,000 runs in the calendar year of 2014 for Durham, including a century against Yorkshire.

The Hall have signed Pakistani Aqeel Mukhtar as their overseas player this term.

He’s a 32-year-old batsman who bowls a mixture of spin and medium pacers and, in 2009, he averaged 98 for Sandbach CC in the Cheshire League. He has played first-class for Islamabad Cricket Association.