Sixers land Windies star Holder for BBL cameo

Christmas festivities will ramp up a notch for the Sydney Sixers and their fans with news the club has secured West Indies allrounder Jason Holder for his first stint in the KFC BBL.

Holder, who is currently in New Zealand with the West Indies as captain of the Test team, will feature in three games between December 20 and 29.

They are the December 20 match against the Adelaide Strikers at Blundstone Arena, the December 26 clash with the Melbourne Stars – which will see him line up against Caribbean teammate and Stars import Nicholas Pooran in a match at the Gold Coast's Metricon Stadium -– and the December 29 match against the Melbourne Renegades, also on the Gold Coast.

The recent creation of a Trans-Tasman travel bubble means Holder and the other BBL-bound West Indians (Pooran and Hobart recruit Keemo Paul) will not be required to complete mandatory quarantine when arriving in Australia.

Holder is the second Caribbean signing for Sydney Sixers, the reigning BBL champions, with Carlos Brathwaite already inked in for a return to the club, having previously been a star in four matches in BBL|07.

Brathwaite is not with the national squad in New Zealand, having featured in the Pakistan Super League, but will be available for the full season, given he is not in the frame for national selection. The West Indies face a possible tour of Bangladesh in January for Tests, ODI and T20 cricket.

Holder did not feature in any of the West Indies' T20 matches against New Zealand, a series won 2-0 by the home side, but will lead the team in the two-Test series that wraps up on December 15.

Holder may have fallen out of favour with his national side's T20 ambitions but proved a revelation for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year's Indian Premier League.

The seam-bowling allrounder initially went unsold at the auction for this year's tournament played in the UAE and was only picked up by David Warner's Hyderabad team after Mitch Marsh injured his ankle. It took an injury to Kane Williamson to force a rejig of the Sunrisers' plans and for Holder to get an opportunity.

He quickly established himself as the leader of the Sunrisers pace attack, providing balance with the bat in the middle order and a spearhead for the club to rally around.

In seven matches he claimed 14 wickets at 16.64, with an economy of 8.32 – respectable given the size of the grounds in the UAE where the tournament was held this year.

He captained the Barbados Tridents in this year's Caribbean Premier League, with 10 wickets at 21.90 and an economy rate of 6.63 in 10 matches, adding 192 runs at a strike rate of 140.14.

Holder's arrival creates a powerful unit of international players for the Sixers, who along with Brathwaite have Englishmen Tom Curran and James Vince already on the books. BBL clubs are allowed to sign up to six international players for the season, but, for the first time, can have a maximum of three in their playing XI.

Vince will be available for the full season but Curran, currently in South Africa with the England team, will not be available until after Christmas once he completes his mandatory quarantine period.

The Sixers also added experienced T20 veteran Dan Christian this summer, and now boast a wealth of big-hitting allrounder talent.

Meanwhile, the Melbourne Stars look set to lose to the services of Jonny Bairstow this season following reports he has worked his way back into England's Test frame.

Bairstow has impressed in England's limited-overs formats on their South Africa tour and is set to be included in the Test squad that will meet Sri Lanka in January, with the UK's Evening Standard reporting Bairstow will pull out of the BBL to spend Christmas at home.

Sydney Sixers BBL|10 squad: Sean Abbott, Justin Avendano, Jackson Bird, Carlos Brathwaite (WI), Dan Christian, Tom Curran (ENG), Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Jason Holder (WI), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Ben Manenti, Stephen O'Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, Mitchell Starc, James Vince (ENG).