After turning down the New Zealand Central Contract last week, Finn Allen joins Perth Scorchers on a two-year deal. Earlier this week, Allen became the latest Kiwi player to opt out of a contract to open up franchise opportunities.
Perth Scorchers were one of the clubs in BBL who has not yet announced a pre-draft signing under the new mechanism that allows multi-year deals.
Allen originally has been included in the NZC contract list announced last month and Scorcher’s interest came recently. It means he won’t be available for the white ball series against Sri Lanka which starts in December.
Allen’s T20 Strike Rate of 168.50 is the second highest for any batter with 3000 runs in the format, behind only Andre Russell. In his international career, Allen has scored two T20I centuries, while he also made an impact at the 2022 T20 World Cup.
He will be the third New Zealand Player to join the BBL, after Colin Munro (Brisbane Heat) and Tim Seifert (Melbourne Renegades). Munro officially retired from international cricket earlier this year after missing the T20 World Cup squad.
Seifert turned down a domestic contract with Northern Districts. Scorchers struggled to fill the opening role after Cameron Bancroft moved to Sydney Thunder last season. England’s Zak Crawley made two half-centuries in six innings, but there were slim pickings for the others used, including an unsuccessful move of promoting Cooper Connolly.
Signing Allen before the draft means it is uncertain if the franchise will bring Laurie Evans back after he was outstanding last season, with 292 runs at 58.40 and a strike rate of 189.61, before leaving the ILT20.
Scorchers could still take Evans in the Draft and Would have retention rights for the player. But he is expected to be limited to around seven matches. The ILT20 has advanced next year due to the Champions Trophy taking place in February and it means a much greater overlap with the BBL while the SA20 will be also taking place at the same time.
