Shaun Marsh in action in the IPL © BCCI
Yorkshire Vikings have secured the services of Australian batsman Shaun Marsh as an overseas player for this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast competition.
Marsh, a 33-year-old left-hander, has recently completed a 10th successive Indian Premier League campaign, for Kings XI Punjab.
Yorkshire had to find a replacement for Travis Head, who stood down after winning an international call-up by Australia A through July and August.
“I’ll be looking to bring some experience to the group and obviously some runs would be nice too,” Marsh said. “I’ve played in a lot of T20 competitions now and hopefully I can bring most of what I’ve learned over the years to the group and have a really successful campaign together.
“I think we’ve got a really experienced team with a lot of talented players. Hopefully we can get some momentum going early. Having never played at Headingley, I’m really excited by the prospect of that too.”
Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “It was obviously a bit of a blow to see Travis pull out, but to secure the services of Shaun is a massive coup for us. To get someone of his calibre, with his ability in both formats of the game – in T20 and potentially red ball cricket as well – and at such short notice is fantastic news for us.”
Marsh, who has represented Australia in all three forms of the game, has topped the runscorers lists in both the IPL and the BBL in 2008 and 2013 respectively. He averages 39.59 in T20 cricket.
“Shaun has had a really good IPL campaign and, with the quality he’s shown throughout his career, he became a really attractive proposition,” Moxon said. “His stats stack up really well and on current form he’s in a really good place. We’re delighted he’s joining and we look forward to him having an enjoyable and successful time with us.”
The Western Australia batsman, who was omitted from Australia’s 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, will be looking to impress throughout the summer as he bids to regain his national team spot.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo