Scorchers land England dynamo Donald to fill key void

Perth Scorchers may have found a replacement for Australia white-ball star Josh Inglis after landing dynamic England wicketkeeper-batter Aneurin Donald for KFC BBL|16.

Donald, who made his T20 international debut last month, has signed a one-year deal with full availability including finals.

Three-time BBL champion Inglis did not resign with the Scorchers in the nine-day player movement window following their historic sixth men's Big Bash title in January.

Since a contracting embargo was lifted in August, the 83-game Scorchers veteran is yet to commit to the club while Donald has signed his maiden BBL contract.

The 29-year-old has joined exiled England opener Zak Crawley in the defending champions' squad.

It means the Scorchers could unleash an all-England opening partnership this season, depending on where Australia T20I captain Mitch Marsh bats in a side stacked with top-order options.

Perth's move to sign both Donald and Crawley comes after Kiwi blaster Finn Allen was poached by Melbourne Stars last month on a mammoth three-year deal understood to be worth more than half-a-million dollars in its first season.

The New Zealand international produced a tournament-leading 466 runs to help the Scorchers claim victory last season, but the right-hander opted against a return to Western Australia after the club couldn't match the Stars' lucrative offer.

Welsh-born Donald made his first-class cricket debut for county side Glamorgan over 12 years ago, but it's in the T20 format where the Swansea native has flourished.

Donald made 489 runs at a strike rate of 230.66 for current county Derbyshire in this year's T20 Blast.

Only three players, James Vince (1038), Will Smeed (1015) and D'Arcy Short (997) have scored more runs than Donald (938) in the last two Blast tournaments.

He also showed his prowess in this year's edition of the UK's Hundred competition, making 38 off 19 balls for Trent Rockets in the final at Lord's.

These performances helped Donald earn his maiden England cap in Southampton, playing every game in their 3-0 T20I series triumph over Sri Lanka.

“We are incredibly excited to have Aneurin join our BBL squad this season," said Scorchers general manager Kade Harvey said in a statement.

“He showed enormous potential during his time with Trent Rockets during The Hundred and then again for England in the subsequent T20I series against Sri Lanka.

“I’m sure our members and fans will enjoy watching Aneurin’s aggressive style of batting on full display at ‘The Furnace’ this season.”

Donald has been named in England's T20I squad that will play five matches in Australia across November and December, prior to the men's Big Bash.

Scorchers head coach Adam Voges has now locked in 15 of a possible 18 players allocated to a BBL club's primary list, including a maximum of three overseas players.

Donald and Crawley will be alongside fellow English import Calvin Harrison this summer, who the Western Australia team have signed as the sole leg-spinner on their list.

In addition to their latest recruit, the Scorchers also have WA local Joel Curtis in their BBL roster giving the team two wicketkeeping options for the upcoming season.

Perth Scorchers' BBL|16 squad (so far)

Contracted for BBL|16: Aneurin Donald (contracted until BBL|16), Ashton Agar (BBL|17), Mahli Beardman (BBL|16), Cooper Connolly (BBL|16), Brody Couch (BBL|16), Zak Crawley (BBL|16), Joel Curtis (BBL|16), Aaron Hardie (BBL|17), Calvin Harrison (BBL|16), Mitch Marsh (BBL|17), Will Malajczuk (BBL|16), Lance Morris (BBL|16), Joel Paris (BBL|16), Jhye Richardson (BBL|16), Ashton Turner (BBL|18)

 

Uncontracted: Laurie Evans (England), Sam Fanning, Nick Hobson, Luke Holt, Josh Inglis, Bryce Jackson, David Payne (England)

 

Head coach: Adam Voges