Archer unlikely to be in purple

Malan talks to BBL side

INTERNATIONAL signings for the Hobart Hurricanes should become clearer soon with coach Adam Griffith confident of making announcements in the coming “days or weeks” . . . but a fan favourite is off the menu for the men in purple.

The coach said paceman Jofra Archer remained out of bounds to the Canes due to his growing responsibilities with English cricket.

“We haven’t spoken to Joff at all and haven’t really discussed him in our list management,” Griffith said from Dubai where he is working as a bowling coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“If he was to become available, that would change but at this stage we’re focusing on other areas.”

Speculation is rife the Hurricanes will enlist one of the world’s top T20 batsmen in Dawid Malan after the English 33-year-old mentioned he was deeply involved in talks with an Australian side.

The same jungle drums were beating over former Australian batsman Peter Handscomb joining the Hurricanes, which was confirmed on Wednesday.

Griffith was tight lipped on whether Malan would make the trip to Tasmania for the summer.

South African David Millar will not be back after a lean spell in purple.

Griffith said the signing of any international players was still “all up in the air for us” while confirming the club had a list of up to a dozen international stars — including Afghani spinner Qais Ahmed — in its crosshairs.

“We’ve still working through our overseas players and all options are on the table for us,” Griffith said.

“We’ll hopefully make some signings in the next few days or few weeks.”

Only one domestic contracted place was left for the Canes, Griffith said.

“We’ve tried to add to our depth, we know with a challenging season coming ... that we need depth to be able to fill a potential loss of players throughout the tournament,” he said.

Griffith had no intel on whether Tasmania might be looked at as a potential hub for Big Bash matches this summer.

But he said Hobart’s Blundstone Arena and Launceston’s UTAS Stadium fit the bill as suitable venues.

“We’d love it to start in Tasmania,” Griffith said.

“It would be exciting if it was in Tasmania to start but we’ll wait and see.”