Kent sign Kane Richardson for 2023 T20 Blast

Kane Richardson will play county cricket for the first time in 2023 after signing a contract with Kent for the duration of the T20 Blast.

Richardson, the death-overs specialist who has been a regular feature of Australia's white-ball squads, played English domestic cricket for the first time last summer, taking 13 wickets for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred.

He has not registered for the upcoming IPL auction, having been part of the competition in previous seasons, which means he will be available for the duration of the Blast, including the knockout stages.

Kent were Blast champions in 2021 but struggled badly in their title defence last summer, winning only three of their 14 group-stage games. They have lost Matt Milnes, a key part of their T20 attack, to Yorkshire this winter but have recruited the veteran Michael Hogan from Glamorgan and confirmed Richardson's signing on Monday.

"Kent have a great T20 pedigree and I'm looking forward to the challenge of performing in the Vitality Blast for the first time," Richardson said. "I know the club has won both English white-ball titles in the last two years and it'll be my job to help us continue this hot run of form in 2023."

Paul Downton, Kent's director of cricket, said that Richardson would play an important role as a senior player to help the development of their younger seam bowlers. "We're really excited to have Kane join us for the whole T20 competition this year," he said.

"He's an established international bowler who will bring a vast amount of experience to the club. His skillset is up there with the best and he will be an invaluable source of information to our young and developing seamers."

Counties are permitted three overseas players in their squad simultaneously but only two can feature in the playing XI in any given competition. Last year, Kent used George Linde and Qais Ahmad as their overseas players in the Blast, and Linde is due to return for the second year of his contract in 2023.

Kent's Blast season starts at home to Gloucestershire on May 23. Their final group game is away at Somerset on July 2, with the knockout stages due to be staged in the subsequent two weeks.