Christian returns for Notts Outlaws in the Blast

Dan Christian, who averaged 41 with an explosive strike rate of 159.51 as Notts Outlaws won nine matches in a row in last year's NatWest T20 Blast, has signed on for 2017. Christian captained Notts to Finals Day, where they lost to eventual winners Northamptonshire.

Christian, 33, will fill the first of two overseas player positions throughout the revamped competition, which will take place predominantly in a more condensed format in July and August.

Among the former Australia international's three T20 half-centuries last summer was a 16-ball cameo against Leicestershire Foxes that equalled Alex Hales' record for the Outlaws' fastest fifty in T20 cricket.

"Dan is an explosive player who hits the ball miles and played really well for us last year," Nottinghamshire head coach, Peter Moores, said. "He's also been around the T20 scene and around cricket for a long time. He brings all that experience to us, as well as a real calmness under pressure."

Christian's white-ball record includes 34 appearances for his country, a decade of experience in Australia's Big Bash competitions, campaigns with Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, and county spells with Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Middlesex. His T20 career spans 174 appearances, 2549 runs at a batting index of 154.05 and 130 wickets at 29.92 apiece.

In the Big Bash last season, he struck one of the biggest sixes ever seen at the Gabba, playing for Hobart Hurricanes against Brisbane Heat, when he deposited a ball 117m on to the stand roof.

"Anybody who has met Dan will know he's a brilliant team man," Moores said. "He's a great character to have around and that competitive nature that you find in a lot of Australians is certainly in him. He gives everything and expects the same from his team-mates. He likes to get on the front foot, to be aggressive and to play attacking cricket, which is exactly what we want in that form of the game."