Sussex have announced that Travis Head‘s contract with the club has been deferred to 2021.
Head, who was due to play across all three formats in the 2020 season, has worked under Sussex’s head coach Jason Gillespie at the Adelaide Strikers, and was set to become the latest in a line of players to represent both teams, after Alex Carey, Chris Jordan, Rashid Khan and Phil Salt.
He had initially been recruited to play for the county last summer, but the move fell through after he was named in Australia’s Ashes squad, meaning Carey was signed instead.
The ECB announced last week that no professional domestic cricket would be played until August 1 at the earliest, and while plans are being drawn up to stage a reduced County Championship and T20 Blast competition, the majority of counties have cancelled or pushed back contracts for their overseas signings due to uncertainty over international travel and as a cost-cutting measure.
Gillespie said that Sussex were “delighted” that Head had committed to playing for the club next year. “It is clear that this season is going to be difficult and we are keen to develop a longer-term relationship between Travis and the club, so this suits both parties,” he said.
“Whilst it is very disappointing, it is clear that there are many difficulties surrounding the 2020 English domestic cricket season and we all agree this is in the best interests of all concerned,” Head said.