Stuart Broad joins Hobart Hurricanes for BBL 2016-17

England fast bowler Stuart Broad has signed with Hobart Hurricanes for the 2016-17 Big Bash League.

Broad could be available for the entire tournament after completing his duties on England's Test series in India - the Hurricanes' first match is on December 23, three days after the scheduled end of the fifth Test in Chennai.

ESPNcricinfo had reported last week that the bowler was close to signing with a BBL franchise in an attempt to compete for a spot in England's ODI squad ahead of the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup.

"It has been really good to have Hurricanes team-mate Dan Christian playing with me at Notts who has been really positive about the Hobart Hurricanes and also the city of Hobart which I'm looking forward to embracing," Broad said

Broad, currently ranked no. 4 in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers, has played only two ODIs since the 2015 World Cup. After being dropped from the ODI squad for the home series against Sri Lanka this summer, he had said that he had not given up on playing white-ball cricket for the country again. Overall, he has taken 178 wickets in 121 ODIs at an average of 30.13 and an economy rate of 5.26. Broad's last T20 international appearance for England came against Netherlands during the 2014 World T20. Overall, he has taken 65 wickets in 56 T20Is.

"It's tricky because I haven't played any white-ball cricket," Broad said in June, after his omission from the group to play Sri Lanka. "I think I saw a quote saying this squad had been picked on merit and I can't argue with that at all because it's not as if I've gone out there and taken a certain amount of white-ball wickets. I'm going to have to find a way to do that.

"I'm going to look at scheduling, whether it's home or abroad, to try to play some white-ball cricket and there might be a decent opportunity after Christmas this year because there's not a lot of Test cricket then until I think July. The only way I'll get back is by playing white-ball cricket and that's the only way my skills will improve, too."

Broad is the second overseas signing in the Hurricanes squad, along with former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara. Damien Wright, the Hurricanes coach, hoped Broad's presence would help the franchise, which finished seventh in 2015-16 edition.

"Stuart Broad has an incredible record in all three formats and his knowledge of the game overall will be a huge asset for our bowling group going forward," Wright said. "He will give us great firepower with the ball and will be a fantastic inclusion into our pace attack joining Shaun Tait, Jake Reed and Sam Rainbird. We now have two of the biggest names in our game playing for the Hobart Hurricanes and our members and fans should be extremely excited for BBL 06."