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Essex will be able to call upon the services of West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for the Friends Provident t20 Finals Day, which will see them take on Hampshire in the first semi-final on 14th August.
Bravo has signed a short-term deal to represent Essex, subject to visa approval, as they bid to make it third time lucky having failed to win the T20 competition despite two previous visits to Finals Day.
Bravo, who has captained the West Indies, helped the Mumbai Indians finish runners-up in the 2010 Indian Premier League and was playing when Trinidad & Tobago matched that feat at the 2009 Champions League Twenty20.
He has played 37 Tests, 107 One-Day Internationals and 22 Twenty20 Internationals having also represented Kent in the 2006 Twenty20 Cup and Victoria in the 2009/10 KFC T20 Big Bash in Australia.
"Obviously Dwayne is a world class all rounder, we have lost the services of other big hitters such as Graham Napier and Ryan ten Doeschate," head coach Paul Grayson told www.essexcricket.org.uk.
"We see Dwayne as a like for like replacement for Scott Styris. He is a high quality cricketer, we feel we are short of another all-rounder with injuries to Napier (Graham Napier) and Tendo (Ryan ten Doeschate), he is a top class player and we hope he can make a major impact on Finals Day."
Talking about ten Doeschate, who suffered a leg injury playing against Somerset, who Essex may yet come to meet in the final, Grayson added:
“Ryan has been doing all he can with the support of the back-room staff, if Ryan continues to progress well over the next couple of weeks we can only hope that he has a chance to play his part in Finals Day. We will give him every chance of playing at the Rose Bowl for Finals Day."
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