GLENN Maxwell will play LV= County Championship cricket for Yorkshire this summer.
The Australia limited-overs batting all-rounder will take over the overseas reins from Cheteshwar Pujara of India and fill in for injured compatriot Aaron Finch.
Maxwell is currently completing his Indian Premier League commitments with Kings XI Punjab, who play their last group match a week on Saturday and have little chance of advancing to the knockout stages.
The 26-year-old Aussie was signed to play in Yorkshire's forthcoming NatWest T20 Blast campaign alongside Finch and was initially due to fill his time around Twenty20 matches with second-XI red-ball cricket.
But White Rose director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon revealed: "When Glenn signed for us, we agreed with him that he would cover for Aaron should he not be available to play Championship cricket for any reason.
"It looks as though Glenn's team aren't going to qualify for the latter stages of the IPL. He will come as soon as that stint has finished but we are just waiting until that's been absolutely confirmed."
Pujara was signed as the replacement for Finch until late May but Yorkshire's overseas plans were disrupted when the Australian tore his left hamstring in mid-April, with Cricket Australia ruling him out for up to 12 weeks.
It is, however, hoped that Finch will be back on the field within two months.
Maxwell missed out on selection for Australia's Test squads for forthcoming tours to the Caribbean and England. He was subsequently selected in Australia A's four-day squad for a tour to India through July.
Maxwell has played just 31 first-class matches, including three Tests, and only batted once for Victoria during their most recent Sheffield Shield campaign.
Moxon said: "With the talent he's got, it's just a matter of him needing to play. He's got too much talent for him not to play well in red-ball cricket."
Yorkshire, meanwhile, will charter a plane from Dublin to Leeds tomorrow night to allow England one-day trio Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid to train with the county on Saturday ahead of their Championship match against Hampshire the following day.
England face Ireland in Malahide tomorrow and the rest of the squad will land in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here