Cricket / Gloucestershire Cricket
Gloucestershire all-rounder Benny Howell signs for Melbourne Renegades
Melbourne Renegades will have a taste of French cricket via Bristol when all-rounder Benny Howell joins their squad ahead of the Big Bash League.
The BBL is Australia’s domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, with Howell joining Renegades coach Michael Klinger, who spent seven years playing for Gloucestershire.
Bordeaux-born Howell impressed with both the bat and ball this year playing for Glos in the Vitality Blast, averaging 48 in four innings and taking seven wickets at an average of 20.86.
The 32-year-old is a middle order batsman and pace bowler with 121 T20 matches to his name. Last year he hit 64 runs off 37 balls against Australia A.
Harris will join other England players Down Under in BBL squads including Somerset’s Lewis Gregory at Brisbane Heat and Alex Hales – who got into a scrape on the Clifton Triangle with Ben Stokes in 2017 – at Sydney Thunder
He will be up against some big hitters in the BBL, including Chris Gayle, who in 2016 – while playing for the Renegades – equaled Yuvrag Singh’s Twenty20 world record as he reached 50 against Adelaide Strikers in just 12 balls.
This year, the West Indies superstar is playing for Perth Scorchers.
“Benny’s got a great T20 record with Gloucestershire and I got to know him well in my time over there,” said Renegades coach Klinger, who lived in Clifton Village while based in Bristol.
“He’s got all the tricks and is someone who can finish off an innings really well with the bat and he has a lot of variations with the ball.”
Howell joins a Renegades team captained by Aaron Finch, also the captain of Australia in limited overs cricket.
Main photo: Melbourne Renegades
Read more: Klinger hopes to end Gloucestershire career with silverware
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