English record holder continues BBL's UK invasion

The most prolific bowler in the history of England's domestic T20 competition, spinner Danny Briggs, has signed with the Adelaide Strikers for this KFC BBL season.

Briggs, who recently joined English county side Warwickshire, will reunite with his former Sussex mentor, Jason Gillespie, at the Strikers this season.

Adelaide's two other imports for BBL|10, spin wizard Rashid Khan and opener Phil Salt, have also played under Gillespie at Sussex.

The signing of Briggs brings to 15 the number of English players in the BBL this season after batting trio Dan Lawrence (Brisbane Heat), Will Jacks (Hobart Hurricanes) and Joe Clarke (Perth Scorchers) were all signed as replacement players this week.

With a host of big-name English recruits, including Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Dawid Malan, set to miss the opening weeks of the tournament due to quarantine requirements following their tour of South Africa, clubs have called in overseas reinforcements for the early part of the season.

Briggs, however, should be available for the whole competition, which begins on December 10.

The left-arm tweaker has played eight times for England but it’s at domestic level where he’s made his name, taking 172 wickets in English T20 cricket, the most of any bowler.

"Briggsy is a calm head (and) an experienced campaigner," Gillespie said.

"He can bowl in every phase of a T20 game. He’s very versatile and very adaptable.

"To have Briggsy to complement the leg spin of Rashid Khan, plus we've got the off-spin of Trav Head and Matt Short. We feel that Danny will add another dimension to our bowling attack should he get a surface that suits multiple spin options."

The recruitment of Briggs comes after a flurry of international signings were made this week including West Indian Nicholas Pooran (Melbourne Stars), South African Rilee Roussow (Melbourne Renegades) and Kiwi Colin Munro (New Zealand).

The Sydney Sixers, Stars and Hurricanes all have one overseas spot left on their rosters, with more announcements expected in the coming days.

The signing of Briggs and returns of Salt and Rashid come after the Strikers recruited Matt Renshaw from the Brisbane Heat, while they also completed a trade that saw Billy Stanlake join the Melbourne Stars and Dan Worrall sign for the Strikers.

They have six vacant spots remaining on their list for this season.

The Strikers are expected to be without skipper Travis Head for much of the summer due to international duty, while fast bowler Michael Neser will also be unavailable during the season due to Test squad selection.

Adelaide Strikers squad (so far): Danny Briggs (ENG), Travis Head (c), Rashid Khan (AFG), Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Matthew Renshaw, Phil Salt (ENG), Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall