Some of Australia’s best domestic cricketers will play at Redlands over the coming weeks as the second season of Queensland’s T20 Max competition gets under way.
Redlands Tigers, who won the Premier Cricket two-day title in April, will kick off their campaign with a double-header against Wynnum and Gold Coast at Wellington Point on August 26.
The club has secured the services of big-hitters D’Arcy Short and Jordan Silk, both of whom have made a name for themselves as dependable short-form cricketers in the Big Bash League.
Short signed a two-year deal with the Adelaide Strikers earlier this month and has a wealth of international experience to his name, having represented Australia in T20s on 23 occasions.
Redlands Tigers president Sean Lloyd said he was thrilled to have the Big Bash pair wearing Redlands colours for the competition.
“It has been a long time coming for Silk to wear the Tigers colours after he pulled his hamstring last year during the preseason and was unable to play,” he said.
“When it comes to D’Arcy, we are absolutely privileged to have a cricketer of his talent to come and join the club.”
In a huge boost for the club’s batting stocks, Australian Test representative Marnus Labuschagne has also been named in the Redlands squad.
The 29-year-old is fresh off scoring a crucial century in the second last test of the Ashes tour in England last month.
Representative teammates Jimmy Peirson, James Bazley, Sam Heazlett and Jack Sinfield have also been included in the Redlands squad announced this week.
The T20 Max competition, launched by Queensland Cricket in 2022, is streamed live to audiences online and gives players an opportunity to impress ahead of the new Big Bash League season.
“At this time of year, all eyes across Australia are on Queensland to search for talent,” Lloyd said.
He said that as the competition begins to mature and flourish, a lot of first-class players around Australia would start looking to Brisbane to secure a contract.
“We’ve had one of our Tigers players Spencer Johnson secure a rookie contract with Brisbane Heat after his performance in the T20 competition last year,” he said.
The Big Bash League season begins on December 7 at the Gabba.
