Big-hitting New Zealand opener Finn Allen headed for Perth on two-year deal after turning down national contract

Powerful opener Finn Allen’s first stop on the franchise circuit after handing back his New Zealand contract is set to be the Big Bash after signing a two-year deal to join the Perth Scorchers.

Cricket.com.au has been told Allen has become the third Kiwi to sign a multi-year contract ahead of the September 1 KFC BBL|14 overseas player draft, joining Colin Munro (Brisbane Heat) and Tim Seifert (Melbourne Renegades) in this summer’s tournament.

The 25-year-old right-hander has represented the Black Caps 47 times in the T20 format, including all four matches in June’s disastrous T20 World Cup campaign that saw the Kiwi bundled out in the first round after defeats to Afghanistan and hosts West Indies.

Perth Scorchers BBL|14 squad (so far): Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Mahli Beardman, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner

Allen shrugged off the World Cup disappointment last month with a tremendous campaign for runners-up San Francisco alongside fellow Scorcher Josh Inglis in the USA’s Major League Cricket, slamming a 53-ball 103 in the knockout phase, as well as two half-centuries in the regular season to finish with 306 runs striking at 187.73 for the tournament.

In means popular Englishman Laurie Evans will need to be retained through the draft if he’s to return to Perth for a third season with each club only permitted to pre-sign one male and female overseas player each season.

New Zealand Cricket announced on Thursday the white-ball specialist had turned down his central contract offer to pursue franchise opportunities and had not been granted a casual playing contract like his all-format compatriots Kane Williamson and Devon Conway.

While NZC said Allen would remain available for the Black Caps on a case-by-case basis, he is not expected to feature in T20 and ODI series against Sri Lanka in January with cricket.com.au able to confirm his full availability for the Scorchers for the upcoming season.

Williamson and Conway will also skip home series in January, with the former Test skipper to join Durban Super Giants the next year’s SA20, with Conway also indicating he will head to the South African competition.

Players offered NZC central contracts must commit to being available for both international cricket and their domestic Super Smash T20 competition, which overlaps with the BBL and SA20 in December and January.

Allen, Williamson and Conway join speedsters Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne in declining NZC central contracts this financial year, following in the footsteps of previous Black Caps Trent Boult, Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham.

Allen fills the opener void that Perth have struggled to nail down since Cameron Bancroft left for the Sydney Thunder prior to last season.

Zak Crawley, Cooper Connolly, Sam Whiteman, Sam Fanning, Steve Eskinazi and Marcus Harris all filled the role last season with indifferent results following Bancroft’s stellar 357-run BBL|12 campaign.

Fanning signed his first full contract with the Scorchers earlier this month to return for BBL|14 after making his debut as a replacement for injured skipper Ashton Turner last season.

He is currently captaining the Scorchers at the Top End T20 tournament in Darwin where they have won two of their five matches so far in a valuable pre-season hit out for the club.

While the club lost emerging left-arm spinner Hamish McKenzie to the Melbourne Stars last week, talented young West Australian quick Mahli Beardman has committed for the next two seasons after playing a key role in Australia’s Under-19 men’s World Cup triumph in February.

The Scorchers will need to add at least two more overseas players in next month’s draft where they hold picks 7, 15, 18 and 31.