Surrey sign Aaron Hardie for Blast and Championship stint

Surrey have signed uncapped Australian allrounder Aaron Hardie for the rest of the Vitality Blast, after losing Kieron Pollard to injury.

Hardie, who has been in Sri Lanka with Australia A, has joined up with the squad and will be available for Surrey's Blast game against Kent on Friday. Surrey are top of the South Group with two games left to play and have already qualified for the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old was part of the Perth Scorchers squad that won the 2021-22 Big Bash League, and has played alongside Laurie Evans and Jason Roy for the franchise.

"I'm super stoked to be joining Surrey," Hardie said. "I spoke to Laurie and Jason about what it's like to play here at The Kia Oval and I'm really excited to see what the crowd bring on Friday. I'm keen to learn from players like Hashim [Amla] as well as the younger guys in the dressing room like Will Jacks and I hope I can make a good contribution to the team."

Hardie, who averages 50.30 with the bat in first-class cricket, and 25.34 with the ball, will also be in contention to play in Surrey's LV= Insurance Championship fixture against Yorkshire at Scarborough next month. Surrey currently sit top of Division One, with just over half of the Championship season played.

Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of cricket, said: "Aaron's all-round skill sets will bring us very good options in our T20 campaign and the County Championship game at Scarborough."