Brisbane Heat secure Dan Lawrence signing

The Essex youngster replaces Tom Banton for the start of the competition, which gets underway on December 10

• BBL 2020-21 squads
• Morkel joins Heat as local player

Dan Lawrence, the Essex batsman, has joined Brisbane Heat for the start of the Big Bash League.

The 23-year-old replaces Tom Banton, who will miss the opening weeks of the competition while in South Africa with England.

Lewis Gregory will also be absent for the start of the 10th edition of the BBL having been called up by his country

Lawrence (Men's T20 Player Index No.254) spent last winter Down Under with England Lions and enjoyed an impressive trip which included scoring a century in the one-off unofficial Test against Australia A at the MCG, which the tourists won by nine wickets.

Those performances helped catapult him onto the fringes of the England Test squad during the summer, but he is still awaiting an international debut.

Since making his first-class debut for Essex in 2015 he has helped the club win two County Championship titles, the Bob Willis Trophy and T20 Blast.

New recruit @DanLawrence288 has some skills with the willow! 🤯

👉 https://t.co/yN0ZYzNNu6
🎥 @englandcricket #BringTheHeat #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/qy5B7pAIRU

— Brisbane Heat (@HeatBBL) November 12, 2020

"I kept a pretty close eye on Tom Banton and the other English players who were in the BBL and so coming out to join the Heat is going to give me the chance now to challenge myself again in Australian conditions," he said.

"I’m looking forward to meeting everyone at the Heat and working with the lads to get the team off to a good start."

Coach Darren Lehmann added: "Dan is a really exciting pick-up for us and has a good reputation as a young player who can influence results with his skills and experience.

"He caught the eye during the Lions tour with the way he adapted so successfully to local conditions and that is something we think will help at the start of the tournament when we are playing in Canberra and at the Gabba and Metricon Stadium.

"Hopefully we can assist him to further develop as a player and also provide him with the stage to showcase his skills for the English selectors and give them reasons to look at him as part of their Ashes set-up for next season."