All You Need To Know About Our MBBL Draftees

Having already secured powerful New Zealand opener Finn Allen as a pre-draft signing, the Scorchers' international contingent for BBL|14 is now complete. 

Here's everything you need to know about the three overseas recruits.

Finn Allen

DOB: 22/04/1999
Nationality: New Zealander
Role: Right-handed opening batter
Draft pick: Pre-draft signing (two-year deal)
Availability: All of BBL|14

Allen is among the most destructive opening batters on the planet, renowned for attacking from ball one and sustaining his scoring rate. 

He holds the New Zealand record for the highest individual T20I score (137 from 62 deliveries against Pakistan) and set the national benchmark for the most sixes in a T20I innings (16). 

His T20I strike rate of 158.69 is the highest of any New Zealand cricketer and seventh all-time among Test-playing nations. Factoring all T20 cricket, Allen's strike rate of 168.60 is bettered only by Jamaican superstar Andre Russell (minimum 1000 T20 runs).

Expect action whenever the powerful right-hander is at the crease. 

Matthew Hurst

DOB: 10/12/2003
Nationality: English
Role: Right-handed batter
Draft pick: 18 (Silver)
Availability: All of BBL|14

Hurst is a rising star of English cricket. 

The supremely talented 20-year-old made his mark in The Hundred for Manchester Originals, scoring two half-centuries in six innings to go with the strike rate of 161.95. 

Inventive and versatile, Hurst bats anywhere inside the top six and has the repertoire of shots to work the field to his advantage. 

He also keeps wicket for Lancashire in County Cricket, offering reliable cover for incumbent Scorchers gloveman Josh Inglis. 

Keaton Jennings

DOB: 19/06/1992
Nationality: English
Role: Left-handed opening batter
Draft pick: 31 (Bronze)
Availability: All of BBL|14

It takes immense talent and mental fortitude to play Test cricket, which Jennings has done 17 times for England. 

Jennings scored a century on Test debut against India and has since forged an exceptional career across all formats in English domestic cricket. 

Like Hurst, the tall left-hander impressed during The Hundred, tallying 137 runs at 34.25 with the strike rate of 150.54 for London Spirit. 

He has proven himself in a variety of conditions and is adept against pace and spin, while Jennings' leadership and character are held in equally high regard. 

Summarising the Draft, Perth Scorchers MBBL Head Coach Adam Voges said:

"We had Finn Allen pre-signed coming into today, which was a big part of our strategy. We needed a top-order player and Finn's going to fit that role really nicely. 

"Matty Hurst is a really exciting young talent who's a wicketkeeper, as well, so he can play that back-up role should we need it.

"Keaton Jennings is an experienced cricketer, a left-hander who's a top-order player. 

"All in all, we filled a couple of the roles we think we'll need throughout the tournament at some stage.

"I think we saw last year when we lost a couple of our internationals at the back end of the tournament that limited availability did have an effect, so we've certainly prioritised the availability piece this year. 

"Clearly we would've loved to have kept Laurie Evans but once we did the Finn Allen deal, we knew there was a chance he'd be taken by another team."

Perth Scorchers BBL|14 list to date: Ashton Turner ©, Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Mahli Beardman, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Matthew Hurst (England), Josh Inglis, Keaton Jennings (England), Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson.