Northants Are Keen to Bring in Waugh

Northamptonshire are hoping to recruit the Australia Test captain Steve Waugh to stand in for their overseas player Mike Hussey when he departs on international duty at the end of August.

Hussey, the first player to go past 1,000 first-class runs this season, is part of the Australia A squad that will tour South Africa and he will miss the final month of the season.

Northants' director of cricket Bob Carter wants another proven run-scorer to fill Hussey's shoes during a period when the county could be challenging for promotion from the second division of the Norwich Union League.

With the ICC Trophy to be played in Sri Lanka in September, options are limited, but Waugh has been excluded from the Australian one-day squad and is one of the few quality internationals who will be inactive during that period.

Carter confirmed: "It would be nice to replace Mike with another batsman and Steve Waugh is one of the names we have come up with and we are currently following up that line of inquiry. There are other names we are sifting through and hopefully we will have more information by the end of the week."