Kent signs Kane for 2023 T20 Blast

After signing a contract with Kent for the T20 Blast, Kane Richardson will play county cricket for the first time in 2023.

Richardson, the death-overs specialist who has been a usual feature of Australia’s white-ball crews, played English domestic cricket impressively the previous summer, taking 13 wickets for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred.

Since he has participated in the IPL in previous seasons but has not registered for the upcoming auction, he will be available throughout the Blast, including the knockout stages.

Kent was the Blast champion in 2021, but they had a terrible summer defending their title, winning only three of their 14 games in the group stage. They have lost their T20 attack’s most important player, Matt Milnes, to Yorkshire this winter, but they have brought in Glamorgan veteran Michael Hogan and announced on Monday that they have signed Richardson.

News from Canterbury this afternoon, Kent have announced the signing of Kane Richardson as an overseas player ahead of the 2023 Vitality T20 Blast ✈️

The Aussie seamer will be available for the entirety of the competition, including any knockout fixtures 🏏

— The County Cricket Podcast (@TheCountyCrick2) December 12, 2022

“Kent have a great T20 pedigree and I’m looking forward to the challenge of performing in the Vitality Blast for the first time. I know the club has won both English white-ball titles in the last two years and it’ll be my job to help us continue this hot run of form in 2023.”

  Richardson said.

Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said that Richardson would play an important role as a senior player to help the development of their younger seam bowlers.

“We’re really excited to have Kane join us for the whole T20 competition this year. He’s an established international bowler who will bring a vast amount of experience to the club. His skillset is up there with the best and he will be an invaluable source of information to our young and developing seamers.”

he said. 

Three international players can play for a country at the same time, but only two can make the starting XI in any given competition. Kent used Qais Ahmad and George Linde as overseas players in the Blast the year before, and Linde is set to return for the second year of his contract in 2023.

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On May 23, Kent’s Blast season begins at home against Gloucestershire. Their final group match is on July 2 at Somerset, and the knockout stages will take place in two weeks.