Perth Scorchers land hard-hitting New Zealand batter Colin Munro in major coup, while Englishman Joe Clarke has also joined the club
Scorchers lock in Kiwi superstar for BBL|10
One of the world’s leading Twenty20 batters has signed on with Perth Scorchers for the upcoming KFC BBL season in a significant coup.
Hard-hitting New Zealand left-hander Colin Munro, who sits fifth on the T20I batting rankings, has developed a reputation as one of the most destructive performers in the shortest format.
The star recruit boasts the fourth highest strike rate in T20 internationals – 156.44 – and has three centuries to his name at the top level.
Another destructive bat to further strengthen our DANGEROUS top-order 🔥 💪 #BBL10 #MADETOUGHhttps://t.co/erxdIFJ3i2 pic.twitter.com/9NSnl57SP5— Perth Scorchers (@ScorchersBBL) November 12, 2020
Munro has hit 1724 runs from 65 matches for New Zealand at 31.34 and has also registered 11 half-centuries.
His overall record is also impressive – 6515 runs from 270 matches across the globe with four tons and 39 fifties.
Munro was in fine form in the for the Trinbago Knight Riders in this year’s Caribbean Premier League, earning player of the match awards for whirlwind knocks of 50 off 30 deliveries and 65 off 54 balls.
The 33-year-old can also send down some handy medium pace and is a major inclusion for the Scorchers after they finished sixth in BBL|09.
“To jump on board with such a successful, established club that has been playing great cricket since the BBL started was really what appealed to me… it’s going to be pretty special to be part of it,” Munro said.
“The Scorchers have some world-class players in their list, so to rub shoulders with them this summer is going to be really exciting.”
Munro made three appearances for the Sydney Sixers in BBL|06 but will be available for the whole tournament this season.
“Colin’s naturally aggressive instinct with the bat and ability to take the game away from the opposition quickly will make him an extremely important impact player for us this summer. We look forward to welcoming Colin to the Scorchers,” coach Adam Voges said.
The Scorchers have also locked in English batter Joe Clarke, who will be a temporary replacement for countryman Jason Roy.
The 24-year-old was the fifth highest run-scorer in England’s T20 Blast with a strike rate of 175 this year.
Roy and fellow Englishman Liam Livingstone will miss the first three matches of the Scorchers’ campaign having both been selected for England’s white-ball tour of South Africa.
“It’s unfortunate we won’t have our English players Liam and Jason for the early part of the campaign, but we have been planning around that since the tour was earmarked and are very excited to welcome Joe to the side,” Voges said.
“Joe has performed really well in T20 cricket recently and we’re excited about what he can bring to the Scorchers.”
The Scorchers have completed their squad for BBL|10 ahead of their opening match against the Melbourne Renegades at Blundstone Arena on December 12.
Emerging Englishman Will Jacks is also set to make his BBL debut after signing with the Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday, while Dan Lawrence has linked up with the Brisbane Heat as a replacement player for Tom Banton.
Perth Scorchers squad: Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Joe Clarke (ENG*) Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone (ENG**), Mitchell Marsh (c), Colin Munro (NZ), Kurtis Patterson, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Jason Roy (ENG**), Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman
* Before Christmas
** After Christmas