The Perth Scorchers have signed Gloucestershire bowler David Payne for BBL|12, with the Englishman replacing countryman Tymal Mills in Adam Voges' squad.
Mills was forced to leave the Scorchers on the eve of the tournament due to a family emergency, allowing the Western Australian franchise to recruit another international player for the summer.
Adding to their strong English ranks, the Scorchers looked toward Payne as another pace option to aid their bowling attack, confirming the signature of the 31-year-old, who will be available for the second half of the BBL season, on Saturday.
โI feel incredibly excited and lucky. I've always followed the Scorchers, with the links we've had at Gloucester โ Michael Klinger, AJ Tye and Cameron Bancroft. I've also recently played in the T10 league with Peter Hatzoglou, so there's a lot of friendly faces," Payne told perthscorchers.com.au.
โI know how successful Perth are, so to be stepping into their dressing room is incredibly exciting and I can't wait to get out there. The short notice has made it even more exciting โ it's the best Christmas present ever, to beย honest.
โI've never played in WA but watched a few games at Optus Stadium and it's a phenomenal ground. We see and hear that the pitches in Australia are a lot quicker than England, so I'm looking forward to that, and I'm really looking forward to the challenge in general.โ
Mills' departure added to a frustrating period of squad changes among Perth's international signings, withย Phil Salt (injury) and Laurie Evans (positive anti-doping test) both unable to feature for the Scorchers for BBL|12.
The Scorchers also lost star all-rounder Mitch Marsh to injury, forcing further shuffling to their squad.
Perth have signed Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Stephen Eskinazi (England) and Adam Lyth (England) to international positions.
The Scorchers will play their first match of the BBL season against the Sydney Sixers on Saturday night.
