Chris Green to join Lancashire for Vitality T20 Blast

Lancashire have announced the signing of Australia spinner Chris Green for the Vitality Blast. Green will replace Nathan Lyon in Lancashire's plans after Cricket Australia revoked clearance for Lyon to play white-ball cricket during his spell in England.

Green, 30, made his name as a T20 specialist adept at bowling with the new ball - although he made a first-class debut in 2022 and has played for New South Wales over the last two Sheffield Shield seasons. He has T20 experience around the world, notably in the Big Bash and Caribbean Premier League, and has had three previous stints in the Blast, representing Birmingham Bears and Middlesex.

Green made his T20I debut for Australia in December but is not expected to be part of their T20 World Cup plans.

"Following the news that Nathan would no longer be available to play T20 for us, Dale [Benkenstein] and I were really keen to ensure that when going back into the market for an overseas replacement, they would have full availability across both group stage blocks in the Blast which we believe is important to get some continuity in the team," Lancashire's director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, said.

"The attraction with Chris was his full availability combined with his skillset - which is the ability to bowl spin across all phases of the game - and also his batting as Chris has become really effective towards the back end of an innings, an area in which we felt the team could do with a bit of strength.

"Chris is also a really experienced campaigner, captain of Sydney Thunder in the BBL, and at times we may field a young T20 side this year so adding experience in that format will be a real help for us."

Across 200 games of T20, Green has taken 164 wickets with an economy of 7.03. He took over the Sydney Thunder captaincy for 2023-24 but saw the team finish bottom, winning just one of their ten games.

Green said: "I am really pleased be joining Lancashire for this year's Vitality Blast and can't wait to meet up with my new team-mates next month. It's a really strong squad at Lancashire and after speaking with Mark Chilton and Dale Benkenstein ahead of signing, I am really excited about what we can achieve together this summer.

"I have really enjoyed my previous experiences of playing in the Blast in England and I am looking forward to heading to Manchester and playing at Emirates Old Trafford for the first time."