Lance Morris to ramp up Ashes push with county stint at Northamptonshire

Western Australia fast bowler Lance Morris will join his State captain Sam Whiteman at Northamptonshire County Cricket Club this winter in his bid for a spot in the 2023 Ashes which will begin on June 16. He will play three games for the club in the lead-up to Australia’s trip to England. Notably, he won back-to-back Sheffield Shield titles that helped him into national Test contention.

Along with Morris, Chris Tremain has also signed a short-term contract for Northamptonshire. Tremain will join the team for the first three games of the season before Morris takes over for three games in May, according to the county cricket club. 

Morris hinted at a switch to The West Australian during the recently concluded Sheffield Shield, admitting he didn’t expect to be in Test contention. The 25-year-old bowler was a last-minute replacement in Adelaide before spending the rest of the national call-up with the Australian squad during the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India.

Upon joining Northamptonshire, Morris said that he is looking forward to playing for Northamptonshire. He also stated that he is very excited about the new opportunity and hopes to contribute to the team’s success when he plays for them.

“I’m looking at potentially doing a County stint as well, just to keep myself going and being in the right place at the right time. I’m really looking forward to getting over the UK and joining Northamptonshire for a few games,” Morris said in a statement.

“You hear people talk a lot about county cricket, so I’m excited about a new experience. It’ll be great to link up with Sam too and hopefully help deliver some positive results for the team while I’m there,” he added.

Morris took 31 wickets in six matches for Western Australia in the summer. His efforts enabled Western Australia to win back-to-back championships for the first time in 24 years.