The Perth Scorchers have confirmed the acquisition of Faf du Plessis for the upcoming Big Bash League season.
His signing comes after star English opening batsman Laurie Evans had to pull out of the tournament following a positive result on an anti-doping test.
Evans was the player of the match in the BBL|11 final last summer against the Sydney Sixers, and the Scorchers didn't take a pick in the first round of the BBL international player draft to ensure they could sign Evans under the salary cap.
He was also due to be available for the entire season, and while he denies any wrongdoing in the positive test, the call was made for him to pull out of the BBL.
That left the Scorchers scrambling, however, they have now signed du Plessis, who was originally listed as one of the platinum players for the BBL international player draft, but was then overlooked by all eight clubs as a premium was put on availability for the entire tournament.
It's unclear just how much of the season du Plessis will be available for given his likely participation in the South African domestic T20 league during January, where he will play for the Joburg Super Kings, however, it's understood he will likely play around seven games for the Scorchers.
The Scorchers are the second club to sign a player unavailable for the whole season as a replacement after the Melbourne Renegades picked up a combination of Andre Russell and Martin Guptill to cover their season after Liam Livingstone pulled out following his surprise selection for England's Test tour of Pakistan.
"The first thing that jumps to mind is that Perth are four-time champions, which is very impressive. Any player who plays around the world wants to win competitions, so it's a great franchise to be part of," du Plessis said in a statement.
"I think it's important to learn from other people and organisations and find out why they're successful.
"I'm also excited to share my experiences and the things I've learned and hopefully that can be a great combination.
"It looks like (Perth Stadium) is probably the quickest wicket in the world.
"Watching the (T20) World Cup, the bounce looked very, very steep. The wickets in South Africa and Australia are quite similar with more pace and bounce than spin, so it is something I've grown up with and I'm looking forward to playing in Perth this summer."
Du Plessis has now retired from the international game, but played 50 T20 internationals for his country, scoring 1528 runs at 35.53. More broadly, he had 8074 runs from 311 games in the shortest format at 31.05, and has played around the world in T20 leagues, including in the IPL, Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Bangladesh T20 tournament, in England an previously in Australia for the Melbourne Renegades.
He will kick off his BBL campaign on December 17 at home in a grand final rematch against the Sydney Sixers.
