Blair Tickner joins Derbyshire for first part of 2024 season

Blair Tickner, the New Zealand fast bowler, has joined Derbyshire across formats for the first three months of the season.

Tickner, 30, has almost 400 career wickets to his name, including 202 in first-class cricket with best figures of 5 for 23 for Central Districts against Canterbury in 2017-18.

As a tall fast bowler capable of hitting 90mph, he made his Test debut against England at Mount Maunganui in 2023, where he picked up the wickets of Ben Duckett, Harry Brook and Ben Foakes on his way to figures of 3 for 55 in the second innings.

He also impressed in the recent Ford Trophy List A competition in New Zealand, where he claimed 17 wickets at an average of 20.64, and will be available to Derbyshire for nine County Championship matches and eight in the Vitality Blast, until the end of his stint on July 4.

"I'm really excited to be playing in county cricket for the first time," Tickner said. "Derbyshire have a great coaching set-up and everyone I have spoken to in New Zealand says what a good club it is.

"I'm a competitor, I want to win every game I play and I'm looking forward to linking up with the squad and hopefully getting good results."

Tickner's signing continues a busy recruitment period for Derbyshire, with Samit Patel, Mohammad Amir and Ross Whiteley also joining the club for the 2024 season.

Mickey Arthur, Derbyshire's head of cricket, said: "Blair brings real pace and international quality to our bowling attack; he's an experienced bowler across formats and he will be a great asset for us in the first half of the season.

"We have a talented core of bowlers and have increased our depth by adding the international experience of Blair and Mohammad Amir, which should help us to take the wickets to win games and push for promotion."