Hurricanes in talks with former Australian batsman, but nothing signed as yet

With the retirement of former skipper George Bailey, a former Australian batsman looking for a new man could be the perfect fit for the Hurricanes.

DISCUSSIONS are ongoing in the hope of turning former Australian batsman Peter Handscomb into Hurricane Handscomb.

But Hurricanes coach Adam Griffith insists that is all they are at this stage.

A Cricket Australia report has linked the Stars batter with the ‘Canes in what would be the perfect replacement for retired crowd favourite George Bailey.

With the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dunk, Adam Zampa and Nic Maddinson all signed up to multi-year deals with the Stars, the out of contract Handscomb, 29, is believed to be on the hunt for a new home.

However, there is a player signing embargo on at present while CA is also looking to introduce an import draft for BBL10 to further add complications.

Griffith said Handscomb would be a valuable addition to any team.

“I can understand where the speculating comes from, with obviously George coming off (Hobart’s list) but we are speaking to a lot of different players at the moment,” Griffith said.

“He’s one of them.

“We’d be silly if we were looking for middle order batters and he’s potentially available and he’s played for Australia and made a BBL hundred … if we didn’t talk to him but at this stage it is purely just a chat.

“We haven’t even talked any further than, ‘where are you at in your career at the moment?’

“That is about it.”

The embargo and the potential import draft has put all signings on hold, but Griffith said the Hurricanes are well positioned to strike when the green light was given.

“We are just waiting on Cricket Australia,” he said.

“They’ve got a lot going on at the moment but as soon as they lift that embargo we’ve got contracts ready to roll with four or five players.”

He said it was highly unlikely English star quick Jofra Archer would be returning to the Hurricanes due to international clashes, but with the schedule constantly changing, anything was possible.