Scorchers lock away another key quick in multi-year deal

Perth Scorchers have locked in another key pillar of their quest for a historic KFC BBL three-peat with Jason Behrendorff inking a two-year contract extension.

The tall left-arm swing bowler re-signs with the five-time champions after a career-best BBL|12, with his 21 wickets placing him among the tournament's top five bowlers, which included a match-high 2-26 in front of 53,886 fans in Perth's victory over Brisbane Heat in the final.

That was the 32-year-old's fourth Big Bash title having also played in their BBL|03, BBL|04 and BBL|11 triumphs, which he said was the main reason he signed on until the end of the 2024-25 season.

"It's a team that I've played a lot of cricket for and a team that I love. I've got a lot of mates around me in Perth, and we've been very successful – it's a lot of fun," Behrendorff said.

Behrendorff became the second Scorchers bowler to claim 100 Big Bash wickets last season and sits second on the club's all-time wicket-takers tally behind Andrew Tye, who also recently secured a new deal for BBL|13.

Perth have been able to re-sign most of their championship-winning squad, with maintaining local depth a major factor in their unprecedented BBL success.

Only Test allrounder Cameron Green, Cameron Bancroft and Peter Hatzoglou remain out of contract for next season.

Alongside Behrendorff and Tye, speedster Lance Morris (two years), Matthew Kelly (three years) and BBL|12 Final hero Cooper Connolly (two years) have all put pen to paper to stay with the Scorchers.

"We complement each other really nicely, we've got different skillsets but all very experienced skillsets now as well, which is very exciting," Behrendorff said of his fellow Perth quicks.

"To keep us moving forward, we're always looking to get better, add a new delivery or something like that.

"For me personally, it was (being) able to bowl through the middle and at the end in the death overs this year. I got opportunities to do that especially when Richo (Jhye Richardson) was not available for us.

"To work with AJ (Tye), Richo, Kells (Kelly), Hards (Aaron Hardie), the list goes one, it's been a very good group and I can't wait to play for a couple more years."

Behrendorff will have a chance to add a fourth domestic 50-over medal to his bulging trophy cabinet on Wednesday when WA takes on South Australia in this season's Marsh One-Day Cup final.

Underlining his impressive form this summer, Behrendorff is the competition's equal second leading wicket-taker this season with 12 in seven matches, with his ability to swing the new ball troubling many top-order batters, taking the most wickets (8) in the Powerplay, just like BBL|12 where he claimed the second highest in the four-over Powerplay with 10. 

Perth Scorchers list for BBL|13 (so far): Ashton Agar (signed until end of BBL14), Jason Behrendorff (BBL14), Cooper Connolly (BBL14), Aaron Hardie (BBL13), Nick Hobson (BBL13), Josh Inglis (BBL13), Matthew Kelly (BBL15), Mitch Marsh (BBL14), Lance Morris (BBL14), Jhye Richardson (BBL13), Ashton Turner (BBL14), Andrew Tye (BBL13).