Scorchers to unleash 'Wild Thing' in BBL|11

The Perth Scorchers have bolstered their already formidable pace stocks with the recruit of rising Western Australia quick Lance Morris. 

Nicknamed 'Wild Thing', more so for his at-times-wayward radar when first bursting onto the scene in WA than any Shaun Tait like pace, Morris is nonetheless able to bowl in the high 140kph range.

The 23-year-old from Dunsborough in WA's south west joins after spending the past three summers with the Melbourne Stars, and his arrival will offset the loss of Joel Paris, who is understood to have secured a BBL deal away from Perth.

"He's an exciting talent who bowls with genuine ball speed," Voges said. "We're looking forward to him continuing his development as a Scorcher."

Morris was named WA's rising star at last summer's state cricket awards after a breakout year for him as he made his debut in both first-class and List A cricket with the state. 

In his second Marsh Sheffield Shield match he claimed a maiden five-wicket haul against Tasmania, and in the first game after the KFC BBL break he claimed three top-order Victorian wickets in 11 balls to blow the game open.

He also played two Marsh One Day Cup games at the back-end of the season when Jhye Richardson and Andrew Tye were absent at the IPL. 

Originally recruited by the Stars as an injury replacement player on the eve of BBL|08 in late 2018, Marris was made to wait until January 2020 for his debut, which came in a Melbourne derby. 

Although on the full squad list the past two years, he played just seven matches, sharing the dressing room with Dale Steyn for a season but snaring just a solitary wicket.

Morris is the second move the Scorchers have made since the BBL|11 contracting embargo lifted following their swoop for leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou, who was off-contract after a breakout summer with the Melbourne Renegades.

The Scorchers have a stacked bowling line-up for BBL|11 – with the usual caveat of everyone remaining fit – with Jason Behrendorff joining Richardson and Tye in an international-class pace attack, and with no conflicting white-ball internationals for the coming season.

But the Scorchers are wary that Richardson, and potentially Mitch Marsh, may yet be asked to spend the summer with Australia's Test set-up with expanded squads and bio-secure bubbles again on the cards.

That's likely to have flow-on effects for the Scorchers' international recruiting, with Voges indicating recently he may look abroad for fast-bowling reinforcements. 

That means tough decisions loom with Colin Munro, Liam Livingstone and Jason Roy all excellent for the Scorchers last summer, and the club could look domestically at options to shore up their batting, such as Callum Ferguson.

The Scorchers still have three domestic spots available on their 18-man roster, with all three international slots still open. Cameron Green and Sam Whiteman are the off-contract batters from last summer's squad, although Green is a lock to be spending the summer in the Test set-up, and Whiteman is known to be exploring options away from the Scorchers.

Perth Scorchers BBL|11 squad (so far): Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye.