A rising speed sensation’s NOC for a county stint with Kent is denied by Cricket Australia

Xavier Bartlett, Cricket Australia’s (CA) rising speed wonder, has been rejected a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for a county spell with Kent.
The decision seems to be an attempt to control the speedster’s workload after he showed off his skills during his international debut earlier this year with the top cricket regulatory body in Australia.

In the first encounter of the three-match series, Bartlett received his ODI debut cap. The 25-year-old took full advantage of the chance, taking four wickets to win the match.

The major wrecker for the Australians, Bartlett, proved to be too much for the hosts to handle as they limited the Windies to only 231. The big pacer’s 4/17 statistics earned him the Player of the Match title.

In the third ODI, he was once again unleashed by the team management, who had notably rested him for the second game in order to control his fatigue. He returned with another Player of the Match performance (4/21) in a winning cause and also won Player of the Series.

Notably, given that Bartlett has previously had a serious injury in his career, Cricket Australia’s cautious stance towards the centrally contracted player makes sense.

Due to a back ailment, he missed the majority of the domestic season prior to making his international debut. He required extensive rehabilitation to fully recover.

Simon Cook, the director of cricket at Kent, was not surprised by CA’s decision to remove Bartlett.

As national boards are naturally inclined to protect their most valuable assets, we weren’t shocked to learn that Cricket Australia was intending to revoke his NOC. According to ESPNcricinfo, Cook said, “We’re continuing to discuss our options with Cricket Australia, and this decision has potentially not ruled him out for the Vitality Blast.”

Beyers Swanepoel, a young all-round player from South Africa, has been signed by Kent to take Bartlett’s position. Swanepoel was a member of the Eastern Cape Sunrisers team that won the SA20 championship this year.