West Indian Pollard joins South Australia for T20 series

Explosive West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard has signed for South Australia to play in their Twenty20 "Big Bash" campaign in December-January, team officials said on Thursday.

Pollard, 22, joins Pakistani allrounder Shahid Afridi in the Redbacks' ranks for the series of matches against the other Australian state sides.

The towering Pollard is a big-hitting right-hander who also bowls medium pace and was impressive in the recent Twenty20 Champions League for Trinidad and Tobago in India.

He was largely responsible for Trinidad and Tobago's preliminary match victory over the New South Wales Blues with 54 runs off 18 deliveries. Pollard clubbed 14 sixes overall in the competition and has an impressive Twenty20 strike rate of 143. "We have been talking with Pollard for a while, even before his match-winning efforts in the Champions League, and we were thrilled to secure his signature," South Australia Cricket Association high performance manager Jamie Cox said.

"The addition of both Shahid Afridi and Kieron Pollard will add an explosive dimension to the Redbacks' Twenty20 Big Bash campaign this summer.

"Pollard's addition to the Redbacks squad will provide fans with a fantastic opportunity to watch one of the most exciting ball strikers in the game today." Sydney, AFP