European Central Bank regulations mean that Yorkshire are now only able to sign a replacement overseas player for their final six Specsavers County Championship matches, leaving them without one for the knockout stages of the Blast and the Royal London Cup.
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Eligible for County Championship action only with Yorkshire, he will wear shirt number 33.
The 31-year-old left-arm spinner was part of the Australian test team now in Sri Lanka but returned home after a hamstring injury in the first test cut short his tour.
Yorkshire’s treble aspirations have taken a blow as Travis Head has been called up by Australia for the one-day global series with Sri Lanka.
Yorkshire moved swiftly to secure the services of the South Australia and Adelaide Strikers man after the departure of Travis Head on Sunday.
However, regulations mean that Yorkshire can not sign a replacement to play in the NatWest T20 Blast and the Royal London Cup, with the club through to the quarter-finals of both competitions. “Well anywhere from one to six (in the batting order), everyone in the squad will be considered”, he said on Tuesday (August 9).
Lehmann also acknowledged that dropping players is a tough decision that the selectors need to take. Injuries occur, contracts are won, promises are broken, honest intentions fail to come to fruition and by limiting a county’s ability to respond to events, the European Central Bank is essentially creating a lottery.
Darren Lehmann, the head coach, revealed every position in the playing XI is under threat.
“We’re very fortunate that we’ve been able to find a replacement quickly for Travis Head, who’s got a deserved call-up to the Australian squad”, Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie told BBC Radio Leeds. In 2014, the Australian Ashes-winning team went on to defeat South Africa on the road to briefly claim top spot, with all players collecting a more-than-handy extra payday as a result.
“He’s a great kid, gives the ball a whack and has shown good nous and awareness. It’s probably him going: “I have to change”, thinking he can play a certain way, and change in other ways”, he said. “I just hope that he has a good time with us, enjoys himself and contributes to some good wins for Yorkshire”.
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Head also hit 54 in Yorkshire’s first innings of their Championship win over Warwickshire at the weekend, his only four-day appearance.
