Middlesex have announced the signing of Australian seamer Jason Behrendorff and all-rounder Chris Green as replacements for Shaheen Afridi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman on Sunday (May 22nd).
Australian left-arm seamer, Behrendorff, is all set to join the club for the upcoming T20 Blast campaign as a replacement for Shaheen Afridi, who decided to return to Pakistan to fulfil his international duties.
Behrendorff, who is currently in India, will join the club after completing his stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 32-year-old Australian international has been spellbinding for Perth Scorchers and Western Australia in the last couple of years.
Speaking of the addition of Behrendorff, Head of men's performance cricket, Alan Coleman said, "We are delighted to have added Jason and Chris to our T20 squad for the forthcoming Blast campaign. With Shaheen heavily committed to international duty with Pakistan, we needed to bring a quality seamer into the attack for our Blast campaign, and in Jason, we have a left-arm seamer of proven international class."
In addition, Middlesex also signed Behrendorff's fellow countryman, Chris Green, marking his return to the club after a successful stint last year. The Australian all-rounder will join the club for a short term as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman who will be leaving on international duty at the end of May. Mujeeb will return to Middlesex for the remaining games in the Blast after the three-match ODI series between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in June.
"With Mujeeb also leaving on international duty, we were keen to ensure that we were covered in the spin department, and we all know what Greeny is capable of in the short form of the game. He fit in brilliantly last summer, and can play a match-winning role for us, so we're really looking forward to welcoming him back into the dressing room," Coleman added.
Green is a known name in the English domestic circuit and in the Caribbean Islands as well. He might have been a controversial figure in Australia but has done well Guyana and Jamaica in the CPL, apart from providing his services to Surrey, Birmingham and Middlesex in the English domestic T20 tournament.
The spinning all-rounder has taken 10 wickets in seven games Blast games he played for Middlesex last year. He also scored a total of 107 runs at a strike rate of nearly 141, which included a lot of match-turning cameos.