England pace bowler Jake Ball has joined the Sydney Sixers as a replacement for Tom Curran, who withdrew from the competition due to bubble fatigue, after his credentials were pushed by Nottinghamshire team-mate Dan Christian

Ball was a reserve in England's squad for the South Africa tour which was cancelled earlier this week after the Covid-19 cases within the biosecure bubble and will fly to Australia with the other members of the team who still have BBL deals. They will all undergo 14 days quarantine on arrival which means being available shortly after Christmas.

Ball has not played for England since 2018 but returned to the set-up for the South Africa trip following an impressive T20 Blast season for Nottinghamshire where he was the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 19 at 13.63 and an economy rate of 7.58.

Christian, who himself has joined the Sixers this season, played alongside Ball in Nottinghamshire's title-winning campaign.

"Jake has been a mainstay of our Nottinghamshire attack in my time there over the last six seasons, leading us to the domestic T20 titles in 2017, and again this year in 2020," he said.

"I didn't hesitate putting Jake's name forward upon hearing that Tom Curran was unfortunately unavailable. As the leading wicket taker in the T20 Blast this year, I've got no doubt that he'll help us win games here at the Sixers."

The Sixers will be without captain Moises Henriques for the start of the tournament. Initially that was due to his selection in the Australia A squad but he has been ruled out of the match against India at the SCG with a hamstring injury. He is aiming to be available for the Sixers' match against the Strikers on December 20. Daniel Hughes will captain the side in his absence.

They are in action on the opening day of the tournament when they face the Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday night.