Cricket Australia (CA) have denied NOC (No Objection Certificate) to their emerging pace sensation Xavier Bartlett for a county stint with Kent.
The move seems to be a ploy by the apex cricket governing body in Australia to manage the workload of the speedster who was highly impressive on his international debut earlier this year.
Bartlett was handed his ODI debut cap in the first game of the three-match series and the 25-year-old made the most out of the opportunity by bagging a match-winning four-wicket haul.
Bartlett was the wrecker-in-chief for the Aussies and turned out to be too hot to handle as the hosts restricted the Windies to just 231. The tall pacer won the Player of the Match award for his figures of 4/17.
Notably, the team management rested him for the second game to manage his workload before unleashing him again in the third ODI where he returned with another Player of the Match effort (4/21) in a winning cause and also claimed the Player of the Series honour.
Significantly, Cricket Australia's protective approach to the centrally contracted player makes sense as Bartlett has already dealt with a major injury in his career.
He missed most of the domestic season before his international debut with a back injury and had to go through rigorous rehab to get back to full fitness.
CA's decision to withdraw Bartlett didn't take Simon Cook, the director of cricket at Kent, by surprise.
"National boards are always going to protect their best assets, so it wasn't a shock when we received news from Cricket Australia that they would be withdrawing his NOC. This decision has potentially not ruled him out for the Vitality Blast, and we're continuing to discuss our options with Cricket Australia," Cook was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Kent have signed South Africa's emerging allrounder Beyers Swanepoel as Bartlett's replacement. Swanepoel was a part of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape squad that successfully defended its SA20 title this year.
