Kent sign Australian seamer as Xavier Bartlett replacement

Bartlett's departure, after eight T20 Blast fixtures, has led to the arrival of Rogers, with Big Bash experience for Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades

Kent have added another overseas player to their ranks, with Tom Rogers replacing Xavier Bartlett for the remainder of the T20 Blast group stage.

The county, for a second year in succession, have been forced to be malleable in their overseas recruitment, this time losing Wes Agar to a shoulder injury that has ended his season early and Bartlett to conditions put in place by Cricket Australia that meant he was unavailable for any red-ball cricket and only eligible for the first half of the Blast.

Bartlett's departure has led to the arrival of Rogers, with Big Bash experience for Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades.

He joins Charlie Stobo and Beyers Swanepoel as the club's three registered overseas options, all seamers. Stobo represents Western Australia back home, while Swanepoel was signed initially to cover Bartlett's red-ball void and has since become important across formats. He is currently managing hamstring issues, though, so Rogers' signing is timely.

^{Beyers Swanepoel has proven an important signing for Kent (Harry Trump/Getty Images)}

"We're pleased to have got Tom on board to sure-up our bowling options going into the business end of this South Group stage," said Simon Cook, Kent's director of cricket. "He has a lot of experience and has skills that will be useful to us with both the ball and the bat, too."

Rogers added: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to play in the Vitality Blast and I’m excited to be joining Kent.

Related: Simon Cook: Kent's new director of cricket thrown in at the deep end

Related: Kent head coach Matt Walker on overseas player "minefield"

"We know that every game is vital for us now, and I want to do my part in getting results as a Spitfire in the near future."

Kent are sitting eighth in the South Group, with just two wins from eight games, and are all but out of quarter-final contention, three wins behind the top four.

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