By Martin Gough

Ever since he watched his father playing county cricket 30 years ago, Leicestershire's new captain has aspired to follow in his footsteps.

Ackerman has captained two South African provinces

It is just that HD Ackerman has taken a more round-about, and controversial, route than most.

Hylton Ackerman was a stalwart first-class batsman of Apartheid-era South Africa, who spent several summers with Northamptonshire as an overseas player.

But despite an impressive first-class record and four Test caps, his son, who shares his father's first name but is known by his initials, has not had a similar chance.

Step forward Slovakian Maros Kolpak, now better known in county cricket than in German handball, where his employment claim saw a new precedent set in European law.

The Kolpak ruling allows players from countries that have an associated agreement with the EU the same rights as a European.

It has caused an increasing trickle of players from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Caribbean, able to sidestep the quota of two overseas players per county.

Current regulations still require such players to sign a commitment to English cricket, meaning they have to give up any hope of representing their own country again.

"Unfortunately the route I've taken has been frowned on by the rest of the world but I'm not intimidated," Ackerman tells BBC Sport.

"Overseas pros get the best of both worlds.

"We can't go back and play in our own countries, but we've got to get the most out of our careers."

My allegiances now are with Leicestershire County Cricket Club but South Africa is my home HD Ackerman

Were Ackerman, 32, to return to provincial cricket, he would have to count as an overseas player, although experts say even that regulation is unenforceable by law.

For now at least, there is still a delicate game of allegiance to be played to retain public approval.

The batsman admits he was fortunate when an injury prevented him captaining South Africa A against the England tourists in December.

And he adds diplomatically: "My allegiances now are with Leicestershire County Cricket Club but South Africa is my home, I'm keeping my South African passport.

"I'm not like one of those footballers who with every move says: 'This is the place I've always wanted to play'.

"But I'd like to think I'll prolong my career and end it here."

That would suit Leicestershire, who lost previous skipper Brad Hodge to Lancashire over the winter, as long as Ackerman fills the Australian's shoes.

ACKERMAN FACTFILE Full Name: Hylton Deon Ackerman Born: 14/2/1973, Cape Town Former teams: Western Province, Gauteng, Lions Tests: 4 161 runs at 20.12, best 57 First-class matches: 118 7392 runs at 42.97, best 202*

He acknowledges he will have to lead the run-scorers as well as skippering players he only met a fortnight ago, at the start of a pre-season tour of India and Pakistan.

He has already been able to offer the benefit of his experience, though, as the younger members of the side struggled the habitual first-timer's stomach trouble.

"I'm going to lean on certain people in terms of knowing opponents but the rules and regulations are the same so I'm not expecting much difficulty," he continues.

Seventh in Championship Division Two - and surprise Twenty20 champions - after a late surge when Hodge took the captaincy last year, the Foxes will target promotion this season.

"I've seen on the fixture list there is an awful amount of cricket so that's going to take some getting used to," Ackerman admits.

"I don't know a great deal about Leicestershire but historically they've had a successful record as a smaller county.

"They're desperate to play Division One cricket and my responsibility is to get the best out of the players."

If he does that, the fans could easily forget the finer details of the route he took to Grace Road.