AUSSIE TEST STAR SIGNS!
BUT LEICESTERSHIRE CANCEL SIGNING OF SOUTH AFRICAN ALL-ROUNDER MULDER
LEICESTERSHIRE have signed Australian Test opening batsman Marcus Harris for the County Championship and Royal London Cup campaigns.
The 28-year-old left-hander will link up with the Running Foxes once his Sheffield Shield commitments are finished with Victoria, and then rejoin his domestic side in Australia before the start of their 2021-22 campaign.
Harris, pictured right, has an impressive first-class record, making 6,733 runs over 103 fixtures.
He boasts a highest score of 250 not out, posted against New South Wales in the 2018/19 Sheffield Shield season, scoring more than half of Victoria’s runs in the innings and 107-run victory.
His red-ball runs come at an average of 38.47, and he has 14 first-class centuries under his belt.
Since joining Victoria in 2016 from Western Australia, no other player has scored more runs in the Sheffield Shield than Harris.
It will be the first time that Harris has played domestic cricket in England.
He said: “I am delighted to have signed for Leicestershire for the 2021 season, and cannot wait to get up and running within English domestic cricket.
“To play domestic cricket in England has always been an ambition of mine and I am looking forward to pulling on the Running Fox and performing for the loyal Foxes family.”
Head coach Paul Nixon said he was delighted to sign someone of Harris’ ability and is excited to welcome him to Leicestershire.
He said: “Marcus is a high-class opening batsman and will add both quality experience to the top of our batting order. He has an excellent first-class record in the Sheffield Shield.
“He has represented Australia at the highest level in the Test match arena and will also add a high-class option to our 50-over side, which also fits the bill with Colin Ackermann winning selection for Manchester Originals in The Hundred.”
But South African Test all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, below, will not be joining Leicestershire this season.
Mulder, 23, originally signed in January to play in the 2021 County Championship and Royal London Cup campaigns.
But he was recently part of the South Africa squads for Test series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and faces a potentially busy period with international schedules having to be flexible during the pandemic.
At the time of signing, it was unknown what cricket was on the horizon due to worldwide scheduling, but Mulder is now expected to be involved in significant amounts of cricket.
Nixon said: “It is a huge shame that Wiaan won’t be joining us but we understand the need for flexibility in the current situation.”
Meanwhile, the Running Foxes have announced a number of pre-season friendlies as well as the annual MCCU fixture. They will play back-to-back home fixtures against Derbyshire CCC (Thursday, March 25) and Loughborough MCCU (Monday, March 29) respectively.
The fixture against Derbyshire is a two-day friendly and the Loughborough MCCU fixture will take the normal format of a threeday match but will not carry the status of a first-class fixture as it has previously.
There are also two away friendly fixtures against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge (Friday, April 2) and Northamptonshire at Wantage Road (Sunday, April 4).
Leicestershire begin their Championship campaign against Hampshire at the Uptonsteel County Ground on Thursday, April 8.