‘Love the city’: BBL star embraces shock switch

It was one of the big surprises on draft night, but English middle-order dasher Laurie Evans has taken the move to the Melbourne Renegades in his stride.

Evans, who has played everywhere on the T20 circuit from the Multan Sultans to the Barbados Royals, had to end his three-year association with the Perth Scorchers after the Renegades pounced at pick 3 before they were able to match a bid.

But the 37-year-old shares an obsession with his Bazball-playing compatriots, and it has made for a seamless transition to Melbourne life.

“There’s not many golf courses on the Sandbelt I haven’t played now,” Evans said.

“The first time I was here, I sort of made it publicly known while fielding (in an interview on the broadcast) that I was a big golfer, and I had a lot of messages on Instagram from members of golf clubs, which was pretty cool.

“So I’ve got through quite a lot of them and met some wonderful people of Melbourne, so that was great fun. It’s nice to be back – I love the city, and it’s amazing to get the opportunity to actually play here.”

Evans has endured a lean period with the bat since a dominant campaign for the Scorchers last summer when he posted 292 runs at an average of 58 and strike rate of 189.

But he said two months off at the end of the English domestic season had left him feeling fresh and ready to perform in his favourite conditions.

“It’s great to be back playing on Australian wickets, I love batting here. It’s been a nice couple of months away from cricket and just getting ready for this tournament,” he said.

“Obviously, I want to come in and make a big impact for the Renegades.”

A shock Test call-up to New Zealand has delayed his arrival to Australia, but 21-year-old Englishman Jacob Bethell will soon join Evans and New Zealand keeper Tim Seifert in an overhauled Renegades middle order.

Evans said Bethell faced a challenge adapting to his first time on Australian pitches but was excited about the strength of their top five, also set to include openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Brisbane Heat recruit Josh Brown.

“England have made the right call (picking Bethell for Test cricket) – they’ve seen something they like, and having played against him, he’s got everything you need for success,” Evans said.

“It’s an unfortunate situation for the Renegades that he’ll be late, but hopefully he won’t miss too many games.

“With the extra bounce and carry, the style of technique you require is different – I think in England you can sort of muscle the ball a bit more, but here, if you try to fight the bounce, you can get yourself into trouble.

“I very quickly realised in the first year that you need to be smart around that and use the bounce to your advantage, and it’s obviously suited me well so far.”

The Renegades signed USA spin-bowling all-rounder Hassan Khan as an international replacement player in Bethell’s absence.