English duo Lyth and Eskinazi sign with Perth Scorchers
Top-order batters replace Phil Salt and Laurie Evans left-arm wristspinner Hamish McKenzie is also added to the squad in place of Mitchell Marsh
ESPNcricinfo staff
10-Dec-2022
Adam Lyth signs with Perth Scorchers • Getty Images
Defending BBL champions Perth Scorchers have signed English duo Adam Lyth and Stephen Eskinazi after losing Phil Salt, Laurie Evans and Mitchell Marsh for the season.
Scorchers have also signed Western Australian left-arm wristspinner Hamish McKenzie to round out their squad ahead of starting their title defence against Sydney Sixers next Saturday.
Lyth is a direct replacement for Salt after he was withdrawn from the BBL due to a shoulder injury at the same time Marsh was ruled out. The Yorkshire and Northern Superchargers top order batter gives Scorchers a badly needed left-handed option in the top order after they were unable to secure long-time overseas player Colin Munro in the overseas draft.
Lyth, like fellow Scorchers signings Faf du Plessis and Tymal Mills, is only available for the first half of the BBL. Du Plessis is headed to the SA20 league in January while Lyth and Mills have both signed for Desert Vipers in the new ILT20 in the UAE, also to be played in January. Lyth has a Perth connection having played half a summer of grade cricket in 2011-12 for Scarborough.
Eskinazi, who is captain of Middlesex's T20 side and has been building an excellent T20 record in England, is available for the whole BBL having long-time ties to Perth and WA cricket. Eskinazi grew up in Perth and played junior and grade cricket at Claremont-Nedlands alongside fellow Scorchers Matt Kelly and Nick Hobson, and Hobart Hurricanes duo Joel Paris and Tim David. The versatile batter, who can also keep wicket, has returned to Perth to play grade cricket this summer and has posted scores of 80 and 85 for Claremont-Nedlands in recent weeks.
McKenzie, 23, is a long-term wristspin option having grown up playing alongside Cameron Green at Scotch College and grade club Subiaco-Floreat. He has been dominant in grade cricket in the last two summers and took figures of 2 for 27 in a T20 practice match against India prior to the T20 World Cup, including the scalps of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik.
Perth Scorchers squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Stephen Eskinazi (England), Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Adam Lyth (England), Hamish McKenzie, Tymal Mills (England), Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye