Hants ace Maxwell teams up with Warne (From Daily Echo)

Hants ace Maxwell teams up with Warne

8:41am Friday 13th July 2012 in Sport

CURRENT Hampshire star Glenn Maxwell will be playing alongside former Royals skipper Shane Warne next winter.

The big-hitting batsman has left the Melbourne Renegades and joined Warne’s cross-town rivals Melbourne Stars for the 2012/13 Aussie Big Bash League.

Brad Hodge has also made the same move, citing his love of the MCG as the reason for switching camps.

“This is the reason why I’m back here - this is the MCG,” Hodge said.

“It’s where I've played and it’s been my second home for 17 years of pretty much every match that I’ve played cricket.”

News of Maxwell and Hodge’s defections came as Brisbane Heat announced South Australian all-rounder Dan Christian had re-signed with them for the next three BBL seasons.

Christian helped Hampshire win the English t20 two years ago.

“Dan is a regular Australian player in waiting in all three formats and he is ready to break through in the next few seasons,” said Heat coach Darren Lehmann.

Another current Hampshire man in the news Down Under regarding the Big Bash League is batsman Simon Katich.

He has re-signed for the Perth Scorchers for a second campaign, along with fellow veterans Brad Hogg, Marcus North and Mike Hussey.

Hobart Hurricanes have re-signed former England batsman Owais Shah for the next two years after the 33-year-old scored 282 runs at 70.50 to fire them into the semi-finals in 2011/12.