Ashton Turner, the Western Australia batter, will return to Durham for his third consecutive season in the Vitality Blast after playing for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL.
Turner, 31, has been out of action since undergoing knee surgery during the BBL, which ended his Australian domestic season in December. Although he is currently with LSG in the IPL, he has not been called into the XI due to their strong overseas contingent.
However, he is poised to play a crucial role in Durham's Blast campaign, having featured in 22 matches for them over the past two seasons. He scored 408 runs at an average of 34.00 with a strike-rate of 153.38 in the middle-order.
Turner is one of the few T20 middle-order specialists in Australia. He has been a popular player at both Durham and Manchester Originals in the last two English summers. Durham and Originals have strong Western Australian connections, with Turner's former Western Australian team-mate Marcus North serving as the director of cricket at Durham, and former Western Australian keeper-batter Ryan Campbell serving as the current coach. Turner's former Perth Scorchers captain, Simon Katich, is the current coach of the Originals.
North expressed his delight at having Turner back, valuing his quality as a middle-order batter and leader at Durham.
Turner has led the Scorchers to two BBL titles and WA to three Marsh Cup titles in the last five years. His injury absence from the BBL significantly impacted the Scorchers' failure to claim a third consecutive title.
He has played nine ODIs and 19 T20Is for Australia, with his last international appearance coming against South Africa in a three-match T20I series last year.