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Western Australia (WA) batter Ashton Turner is set to play for Durham for the third consecutive season of Vitality Blast following his stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Turner has not played the sport since suffering a knee injury during the Big Bash League season in December. He is currently with the Super Giants in the ongoing 17th edition of the IPL but he did not get a chance to debut for the side. It is believed that Turner would be one of the main players for the Durham side. The right-hand batter has played 22 games over the last two years for the side where he scored 408 runs at an average of 34.00 with a strike-rate of 153.38 in the middle-order. Turner is one of Australia's T20 middle-order specialists, and he has performed brilliantly for Durham and Manchester Originals in the previous two England summers. Both Durham and the Originals have strong WA links, with Turner's former WA teammate Marcus North serving as Durham's director of cricket and former WA keeper-batter Ryan Campbell serving as the current coach. Turner's former Perth Scorchers captain, Simon Katich, is the current Originals coach. "It is great to news to have Ashton returning to Durham this season. During his two spells at the club, he has demonstrated vital leadership skills and fits into our dressing room very well," North said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. "He is a proven leader and run scorer having captained the Scorchers and Western Australia to multiple championships in recent years. I look forward to him returning to the club in May," North added. Turner has led the Scorchers to two BBL titles and WA to three Marsh Cup (Australian domestic 50-over) titles in the last five years. His absence from the BBL due to injury had a significant impact on the Scorchers' failure to complete a BBL three-peat. He has played nine ODIs and 19 T20Is for Australia, with his most recent appearance coming against South Africa in a three-match T20I series last year. (ANI)
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