Yorkshire sign Marsh for T20 stint

Yorkshire have substituted one Australian left-hander for another after the county club today announced Shaun Marsh as the replacement for Travis Head for the English domestic T20 competition.

Head was set to represent the Vikings but became unavailable when selected in Australia A's four-day and one-day squads – the latter of which he will captain – in South Africa in July-August.

"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," Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon said.

"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.

"We drew up a list, Shaun was on it and we took it from there really," Moxon continued

"He's had a really good IPL campaign and with the quality he's shown throughout his career, he became a really attractive proposition.

"We made an offer to him and fortunately he's accepted it and now we look forward to welcoming him here."

Marsh, who missed out on Cricket Australia contract offer and selection for Australia's Qantas Tour of Bangladesh, is chomping at the bit to play at Leeds.

"I'm very excited to be linking up with the club soon," Marsh told yorkshireccc.com. "I'm looking forward to meeting up with the boys and getting started.

"I've only heard positive things about the Club from previous overseas players and can't wait to be involved. The NatWest T20 Blast is a strong competition and I'm looking forward to contributing to some wins.

"I'll be looking to bring some experience to the group and obviously some runs would be nice too.

"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 and put some good performances on the board.

"Having never played at Headingley, I'm really excited by the prospect of that too."

Marsh has an impressive T20 record having scored 4,759 runs in 139 matches at a tick under 40.

It won't be the first time the southpaw stroke-maker has played the shortest format in the UK.

In 2012 he played five matches for Welsh county Glamorgan, registering two half-centuries, and played two T20 internationals against England a year later.

Yorkshire, who have had the services of another Australian in Peter Handscomb for their four-day and one-day campaigns thus far, will welcome Marsh to the UK on June 25 ahead of their first T20 match against Nottinghamshire on July 7.