McGain fills leg-spin void at Essex

Bryce McGain made his solitary Australia appearance in the third Test defeat to South Africa at Cape Town in March 2009

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Essex have signed former Australia leg-spinner Bryce McGain until the end of the season.

The county had a vacancy in their attack after previous overseas player and fellow wrist-spinner Danish Kaneria was named in Pakistan’s squad for the series against England and Australia.

McGain, 38, flourished late in his career and was handed his Test bow two years ago, versus South Africa at Cape Town, though he went wicketless and has since fallen out of Australia’s favour.

McGain is available for selection from this weekend but is not eligible to play in the Eagles’ Friends Provident t20 quarter-final against Lancashire Lightning on Tuesday.

Essex first XI head coach Paul Grayson said: “We have been searching for a new overseas player for a while now. It has not proved easy to replace Danish.

“With the current weather and the upcoming fixtures at grounds like Southend and Colchester we feel Bryce will be the ideal addition as a spin bowler.

“We can now look forward to the rest of the season having received good feedback from various sources regarding the pedigree of Bryce.

“He had a good season last year with Victoria. We have been scouting around and Bryce is certainly the best available bowler.”