Image Credit- Getty
The reigning champion Perth Scorchers have signed
Marcus Harris as a replacement player for the final parts of the BBL after he
was recently left off of a Test recall.
The Scorchers will be without Laurie Evans for the
finals due to an ILT20 contract, and Zak Crawley has been called up to the
England Test team. In the match against Brisbane Heat, Stephen Eskinazi made a
comeback to the starting lineup; however, the Scorchers expanded their
possibilities by inducting Harris—who was not signed to a BBL contract—in lieu
of Jhye Richardson, who was hurt.
Harris’ previous BBL outing came for Melbourne
Renegades last season. He also played 14 matches for Scorchers between 2014 and
2016. Overall he has 981 runs in T20s at 20.43 and a strike-rate of 121.71.
“We saw the need to add to our batting options
with Laurie Evans and Zak Crawley unavailable for finals, and Marcus fits the
bill nicely,” Perth Scorchers general manager, Kade Harvey, said. “He
has plenty of domestic and international experience playing on a variety of
surfaces, and he knows WA well having started his career in Perth. We’re
pleased he’s on board for the remainder of the season.”
After defeating Brisbane Heat on Saturday, the
Scorchers advanced to the finals. However, they must now play Sydney Sixers on
Tuesday to earn a spot in the qualifier against Heat, which would give them a
vital second opportunity to advance to the January 24 championship game and
become the first team to win three BBL titles in a row.
Even if Harris does not play the Sixers in the finals,
he can still participate. Local replacement players are not subject to the
regular-season appearance requirement that overseas signings must meet.
Harris was overlooked for a Test comeback last week
when the selectors opted for Matt Renshaw as the spare batter in the squad to
face West Indies after deciding to promote Steven Smith to open and recall
Cameron Green at No. 4.