Yorkshire are in limbo over the signing of South Africa batsman David Miller as a specialist Twenty20 overseas player for 2013.
A deal to see the powerful left-hander return to Headingley for the Friends Life t20 competition has been agreed, but nothing can be finalised until he has played two more one-day internationals to conform with visa regulations.
Unless a player has an EU passport, they cannot be signed as an overseas player unless they have played either one Test match or 15 one-day/Twenty20 internationals in the two years prior to the official application for paperwork.
Miller has only played 13 times for the Proteas since June 2011, which means Yorkshire will have to wait to see if he features in June’s Champions Trophy before things progress.
But even then things could be complicated by South Africa’s planned limited overs tour of Sri Lanka in July, clashing with the English domestic t20.
The news was delivered by Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon at Saturday’s annual general meeting, where it was also confirmed Mitchell Starc will not be returning.
After a question regarding the pair’s availability from the floor, Moxon said: “The Starc one’s easy to answer. I don’t think there’s any chance.
“With an Ashes tour, the Champions Trophy and an ODI series, he’s just not going to be available.
“David Miller’s is not a straightforward situation. He’s agreed to come back, and we want him back. But he’s two matches short.
“If he plays in the Champions Trophy, he could conceivably fulfill those two games to make him available. However, we’ve recently been told that there’s a South Africa tour to Sri Lanka in July now.
“If he doesn’t play for South Africa in the Champions Trophy, he can’t play for us because he has not played enough games.
“If he does play in the Champions Trophy, he’s likely to be picked for Sri Lanka. Having said that, there is still a chance that the tour could be cancelled.”
Moxon later admitted they have other irons in the fire should Miller not be available, but they are so keen on the 23-year-old that they will leave it as late as possible before they begin to look elsewhere.
Yorkshire do not have the finances to sign two specialist overseas players for Twenty20, and will also try their best to do without one in County Championship and 40-over cricket as well.
Miller scored 457 from 14 Twenty20 matches last season, including four fifties. He hit a brilliant unbeaten 72 in the domestic final against Hampshire.
Meanwhile, former White Rose and England fast bowler Darren Gough was appointed as an honorary life member on Saturday, while Geoffrey Boycott was confirmed as president for 2013 and Michael Vaughan appointed to the board.
Yorkshire are confident their three-day friendly against Leeds/Bradford MCCU, starting on Friday, will still go ahead at Headingley following the recent snow.
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