James Faulkner to become a Hurricane with three-year deal

JAMES Faulkner will play in purple for the first time, with the Hobart Hurricanes to announce the Tasmanian all-rounder’s signing tomorrow.

JAMES Faulkner will play in purple for the first time, with the Hobart Hurricanes to announce the Tasmanian all-rounder’s signing tomorrow.

Faulkner has played all his Big Bash League cricket with the Melbourne Stars previously but will come into the Hurricanes as a direct replacement after Dan Christian signed with the Melbourne Renegades.

He has signed a three-year deal with Hobart.

Cricket Tasmania chief executive Nick Cummins confirmed Faulkner’s homecoming to the Mercury today.

Faulkner, 28, has been a star in the shortest form of the game with his canny left-arm change of pace bowling and his big-hitting middle to lower order batting.

James Faulkner, of the Stars, celebrates the wicket of Will Bosisto, of the Scorchers, during the Big Bash League match between the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Stars at WACA on December 26, 2017 in Perth. Picture: GETTY

As well as playing 24 T20 games for Australia, Faulkner has played for the Pune Warriors, Kings XI Punjab, the Rajasthan Royals and the Gujarat Lions in the IPL and Lancashire in England’s domestic T20 competition.

He has played 159 domestic T20 games in totals, averaged 22.3 with the bat at a strike rate of 123 and taken 176 wickets at 24.3

However, he has been plagued by a debilitating knee injury that has restricted his availability for Tasmania in recent seasons and was passed over at this year’s IPL auction without a bid.

He will have a short stint with Lancashire in the domestic T20 competition before returning to Hobart.

Last week, Tigers coach and Hurricanes assistant coach Adam Griffith said they were confident they had got to the bottom of his knee issues.