Cricket Australia repeals Xavier Bartlett's County Championship NOC

Cricket Australia (CA) has revoked the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) given to Xavier Bartlett to take part in the County Championship for Kent. Notably, the board had given the NOC after offering his first national contract.

Bartlett enjoyed a remarkable campaign in the 2023-24 summer, making white-ball debuts for Australia against West Indies in February. He was the leading wicket-taker in the Big Bash League season. Playing for Brisbane Heat, he claimed a total of 20 wickets in 11 games at an average of 14.7 and an impressive economy rate of 7.63. Notably, his impressive performances helped him to earn a central contract for the first time. 

Before CA has declined permission for his involvement, citing workload management concerns, he was due to play around five Championship games for Kent in the early stages of the season. Moreover, the 25-year-old's initial deal included eight T20 Blast fixtures.

Simon Cook, Kent's director of cricket, stated that they haven't definitively decided on Bartlett's exclusion from the Vitality Blast and discussions with CA are ongoing. In the interim, the County Club has secured the services of South African all-rounder Beyers Swanepoel, with a contract extending from May 1 to the end of the 2024 season. Cook expressed the management's excitement for the contributions Swanepoel can provide this season.

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"National boards are always going to protect their best assets, so it wasn't a shock when we received news from Cricket Australia that they would be withdrawing his NOC. This decision has potentially not ruled him out for the Vitality Blast, and we're continuing to discuss our options with Cricket Australia," Cook was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We're really excited by the potential that Beyers has and what he can offer us this season. We looked very carefully at him earlier in the year but at that stage he hadn't played the required games to qualify as a viable overseas signing for us. He's a genuine allrounder who provides extra batting depth for us across all formats - a gap that we've looked to fill with our overseas players this year," he added.

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Swanepoel has also expressed his joy after being signed with Kent to play in all formats, stating, "I'm absolutely thrilled to join a historic county side such as Kent and to play in all formats of the English county game. I hope to learn a lot whilst I'm here amongst a very talented squad. I spoke to former Kent overseas players before I signed and they couldn't recommend Kent highly enough as a place to come and improve my game in English conditions."