Yorks hampered in bid for Miller

Yorkshire's bid for another successful Friends Life t20 campaign looks set to be hampered by visa rules with their chance to sign South African batsman David Miller disrupted by the regulations.

A deal to sign Miller, a powerful left-hander, has already been agreed but he currently does not meet the visa criteria for an overseas player.

Without an EU passport, overseas players need to have played a minimum of one Test match or 15 one-day internationals and/or Twenty20 internationals in the two years prior to the visa application. But Miller, yet to make his Test debut, has played only 13 times for South Africa in the past two years.

South Africa's next fixtures are not until the Champions Trophy in June, with a warm-up ODI against Netherlands before three matches in the group stage of the tournament.

Two appearances in those four matches - and potentially two more if South Africa reach the final - would make Miller eligible to play for Yorkshire. But he could then travel to Sri Lanka on South Africa's ODI tour, which is scheduled for July and clashes with the Flt20.

Miller is Yorkshire's premier target having scored 390 runs at 48.75 for them in last year's tournament, including 72 in the final against Hampshire. They are likely to only make one overseas signing all season due to financial constraints.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire director of professional cricket, said at the club's AGM that they would hold out to try and sign Miller after admitting there was very little chance of Australian fast-bowler Mitchell Starc being available.

"With an Ashes tour, the Champions Trophy and an ODI series, Starc's just not going to be available," Moxon said. "David Miller's is not a straightforward situation. He's agreed to come back and we want him back. But he's two matches short.

"If he plays in the Champions Trophy, he could conceivably fulfil those two games to make him available. But we've recently been told that there's a South Africa tour in July now.

"If he doesn't play for South Africa in the Champions Trophy, he can't play for us because he has not played enough games. If he does play in the Champions Trophy, he's likely to be picked for Sri Lanka. Having said that, there is still a chance that the tour could be cancelled."