Xavier Bartlett to Join Kent for Vitality Blast Despite CA Block

Xavier Bartlett, the Australian fast bowler, will join Kent for the Vitality Blast after Cricket Australia (CA) initially blocked him from playing for the county in the County Championship. Bartlett was originally signed for Kent's first five Championship games, but CA denied him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) on the eve of the season, despite handing him a central contract a week earlier.

Bartlett's absence was a blow to Kent, who swiftly replaced him with South African bowling allrounder Beyers Swanepoel on an all-format deal. However, Kent remained hopeful that Bartlett would be able to fulfill the white-ball element of his initial deal, which amounted to at least eight Blast games. That has now been confirmed.

CA's caution with Bartlett's workload is understandable, particularly in first-class cricket. He played just three Sheffield Shield matches for Queensland after returning from a back stress fracture sustained during the previous English summer. He is also likely to land a deal in Major League Cricket, which begins on July 4.

While Bartlett is unlikely to make Australia's T20 World Cup squad, he is firmly in the frame for their limited-overs tour of England in September. He will join Swanepoel and fellow Australian seamer Wes Agar as three overseas options for Kent's Blast campaign, which begins on May 31 against Middlesex at Chelmsford. Only two of them are permitted in any given playing XI.

Kent's director of cricket, Simon Cook, expressed his delight at securing Bartlett's services for the Blast: "We've been working extremely hard with Cricket Australia to ensure that Xavier can join us in some capacity this season, and we're really pleased to have secured his services for eight matches of our T20 campaign."

"He is hot property at the moment and fully deserves his new central contract with Australia. I know that Spitfires supporters around the world will be extremely excited that the BBL's top wicket-taker this Winter will be pulling on a Kent shirt this June."

Tags: #XavierBartlett, #Kent, #VitalityBlast, #CricketAustralia, #CountyChampionship