Surrey bring Finch back for 2017

Aaron Finch, the Australia opener, will return to Surrey for the whole of the 2017 NatWest T20 Blast. He will also provide cover in the Championship when Kumar Sangakkara is away playing in the Caribbean Premier League.

Finch featured as an overseas player for Surrey last season, scoring 259 runs at a strike rate of 144.69 in six Blast games, as well as averaging 48.66 in the Championship. At Guildford in July, he hit his first ball faced as a Surrey player for six. He has previously had two spells in county cricket at Yorkshire.

Currently rated the No. 2 T20 batsman in the world according to the ICC rankings, Finch also holds the record for the highest T20 international score.

"We are very pleased to welcome Finchy back to the Kia Oval after his positive impact on and off the field last season," Surrey's director of cricket, Alec Stewart, said. "He remains one of the most destructive batsman in world cricket and I'm sure our members and supporters will enjoy watching him again."

From the next season, the NatWest T20 Blast reverts to a single block in middle of the English summer, running through July and August - a move in part designed to try and make overseas players available for more of the competition.