Northamptonshire sign Matt Kelly for first part of County Championship season

The 27-year-old right-arm fast bowler has taken 105 wickets in 35 first-class matches, and represents Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield

Northamptonshire have announced the signing of Matt Kelly for a spell in the County Championship in 2022.

Australian Kelly will join his new side for the opening rounds of the red-ball competition, his first stint in English domestic cricket.

The 27-year-old right-arm fast bowler has taken 105 wickets in 35 first-class matches, and represents Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, and Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash.

He said: "It has been a long time held ambition of mine to play county cricket. I've heard really good things about the squad and set up in general and I’m looking forward to getting started.

"I'm delighted to be given that opportunity by Northamptonshire and can't wait to test myself in different conditions against Division One line-ups."

Kelly brings pace to the Northamptonshire attack, and at 6ft 3in he generates natural bounce, something which he has used to his advantage in Australia.

^{Kelly was part of Perth Scorchers' victorious Big Bash team (Paul Kane/Getty Images)}

He arrives in Northamptonshire on the back of a fine Big Bash campaign, taking 14 wickets in six appearances, though he didn't feature in the final four games of Scorchers' title-winning campaign.

But it is his red-ball abilities that have enticed Northamptonshire: Kelly took more wickets than Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, and Michael Neser in the 2020/21 Sheffield Shield season, picking up 20 at 34.25 apiece.

Chris Liddle, Northamptonshire's bowling coach, said: "I'm delighted to have Matt join us for the first few months of the summer and really excited to see him get a Northamptonshire shirt on and get going out there for us.

"He's got a great record in red-ball cricket, and we think he's a perfect fit for what we need, I can't wait to get him over here and see what he can bring to the group.

"Matt possesses a fantastic skillset that we feel is well suited to English conditions and will compliment our bowling attack nicely."

Kelly joins New Zealand batter Will Young in the overseas ranks for this summer at Wantage Road, while allrounder Jimmy Neesham has also signed up for the T20 Blast and the possibility of a single County Championship appearance.