Northamptonshire has secured the services of two Australian seamers ahead of its County Championship campaign, with Chris Tremain and Lance Morris signing short-term contracts for the county.
On Monday, Northamptonshire announced that Tremain would join the squad for the first three matches of the season before Morris replaces his compatriot for three fixtures in May.
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The West Australian, who is yet to make his Test debut, will be looking to push his Ashes credentials before the marquee series gets underway in June. The 25-year-old, who has never played county cricket, will join WA captain and teammate Sam Whiteman at Northamptonshire.
“I’m really looking forward to getting over to the UK and joining Northamptonshire for a few games.” Morris said in a statement.
“You hear people talk a lot about county cricket so I’m excited for a new experience.
“It’ll be great to link up with Sam too and hopefully help deliver some positive results for the team while I’m there.”
Morris is coming off a breakout summer in the Sheffield Shield, where he took 31 wickets at 19.96 to help Western Australia secure back-to-back titles for the first time in 24 years. National selectors rewarded the right-armer, who was recorded bowling at 153km/h in a first-class match last summer, with a maiden call-up during Australia’s Test series against the West Indies in December. He was named Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year before travelling to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but an illusive baggy green still awaits him.
“It’s great that we have Lance with us for a few games,” Northamptonshire bowling coach Chris Liddle said.
“He possesses express pace and has been highly talked about, I’m looking forward to seeing him charging in wearing a Northamptonshire shirt.”
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Tremain, who represented Australia in four ODIs in 2016, has been one of the Sheffield Shield’s most prolific wicket-takers over the past decade with 288 first-class scalps at 24.02.
The 31-year-old is coming off a commednable Sheffield Shield campaign with New South Wales, taking 20 wickets at 29.95 for the Blues this summer.
“Playing county cricket has always been a bucket list thing for me, so I’m really excited to play for Northamptonshire and grateful for the opportunity,” Tremain said in a statement.
“It’s been a pretty quick turnaround from the end of our season, so I’m glad we could get everything sorted in time to get me on the plane.
“I’m really excited to meet my teammates and get stuck in for round one.”
Northamptonshire head coach John Sadler continued: “We’re really pleased to have Chris joining us for the first few games. He’s got a great skillset and we like his approach to the game, Sam (Whiteman) rates him highly as well which is always a good sign to have that respect from your opposition.”
Northamptonshire, who finished sixth in Division One last year, gets their 2022 campaign underway on Thursday, facing Kent at Canterbury’s St Lawrence Ground.
