Cricket Australia have blocked Xavier Bartlett from playing in the County Championship for Kent, denying him a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) shortly after offering him his first national contract.
Bartlett had a breakout season in the 2023-24 Australian summer, making his ODI and T20I debuts against West Indies in February and taking 20 wickets – the most in the competition – in Brisbane Heat’s Big Bash League season. His impressive performances earned him a first central contract, which was announced by CA last week.
He was due to play around five Championship games for Kent in the early stages of the season but has been denied permission by CA, in order to manage his workload. Nathan Lyon’s stint with Lancashire was recently reduced significantly for the same reason, though CA have denied that they were behind Aaron Hardie’s withdrawal from his contract with Surrey.
Bartlett’s initial deal covered at least eight T20 Blast fixtures…
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