James Faulkner has signed a two-year T20 deal with Lancashire. The Australia allrounder will return to county cricket next season, having played a vital role in Lancashire’s 2015 NatWest Blast triumph.
Faulkner, 27, has played 94 times for his country, predominately in the white-ball formats, and was Man of the Match during the 2015 World Cup final. His stock of left-arm seam and slower balls has also made him a regular performer at the IPL.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be returning to play for Lancashire Lightning in the T20 Blast for the next two years,” Faulkner said. “I absolutely loved my time with the club in 2015 and Finals Day at Edgbaston still lives very long in the memory for me.
“I’m very excited to come back and work with Glen Chapple and the rest of the squad who are an extremely talented and exciting group of players. Emirates Old Trafford is an amazing place to play cricket and I can’t wait to reunite with the squad next summer. I’m determined to win the T20 Blast trophy back for the club.”
Since lifting the trophy for the first time in 2015 – when Faulkner took 25 wickets and scored 302 runs – Lancashire have twice failed to get out of the group stages. Now in his second season as Lancashire’s head coach, Chapple has turned to a proven competitor to try and improve their T20 fortunes.
“I’m really pleased to have secured the services of James for the next two years in the T20 Blast. He is a world-class cricketer and he played an important role in our success in 2015 when we won the competition,” Chapple said.
“Signing James on a two-year contract gives us some continuity and stability in terms of our T20 overseas player which is what we were looking for so we’re thrilled to bring him back to Emirates Old Trafford. He’s a great individual to have in the dressing room and his experience at international level will really benefit the squad.”
Faulkner’s previous experience of playing in England wasn’t all positive, however. He was given a two-year driving ban and fined 10,000 after being caught nearly three times over the alcohol limit, a transgression that also cost him his place in Australia’s limited-overs squads for the 2015 tour.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo