Worcestershire: Hamish Rutherford is confirmed for T20 Blast in 2020 - but Ashton Turner will be unavailable
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Hamish Rutherford will link up with Worcestershire, who have reached the T20 Blast final in each of the past two seasons
New Zealand's Hamish Rutherford will be available to play for Worcestershire in the T20 Blast when the delayed 2020 county season starts on 1 August.
But plans for Australian all-rounder Ashton Turner to link up at New Road for the tournament have been shelved.
Turner is now needed back down under by his state side Western Australia.
"After the change from the original dates, Ashton is not available for the entire competition," said Pears cricket steering group chairman Paul Pridgeon.
"He would be required to return for practice by his state side."
Rutherford played a handful of matches in all three formats last summer, turning out for 2018 winners Worcestershire in their T20 final defeat by Essex.
He originally signed to play for the whole of the 2020 season but that deal was then threatened by the coronavirus pandemic, as was the original signing of Turner in November.
With his side now down to just one overseas player following confirmation of Turner's withdrawal, Worcestershire head coach Alex Gidman will look to the left-hander, son of former New Zealand captain Ken Rutherford, to make an impact at the top of the order.
"It's been a bitterly frustrating time for anyone in cricket all around the world and it's no different for Hamish," said Gidman.
"The T20 is something we've been successful in for the past two years and, regardless of how that competition looks this year, we want to try to do as well as possible in it."
A start date for the 2020 domestic season has been announced but, as yet, there is no confirmation of how the amended schedule will look.