John Hastings is the latest overseas player to interest Northamptonshire ahead of the 2013 season.
The 27-year-old, who plays for Victoria and made his Test debut in Australia’s recent defeat to South Africa in Perth, is being considered after a deal with his fellow countryman Trent Copeland came to nothing.
And with interest in South African Rory Klienveldt, who is undecided over whether to commit to a short-term contract, cooling, the County could well head back down under to fill their overseas slot.
But as chief executive David Smith admitted, it is all far from a done deal.
He said: “We’re talking to his (Hastings) agent but no contract has been offered.
“He’s injured at the minute and we want to see him in some sustained action before we make any decision.
“We’re breaking up for a few weeks over Christmas but we’ll all sit down when we get back and go from there.”
And Smith remarked that even if a deal can be agreed there are still obstacles that may have to be overcome.
He added: “The problem that we’ve got is that there is the IPL auction and plenty of players are having a sniff at that so that makes it a bit of a minefield.
“Then there is the Champions Trophy and the better players are likely to be involved in that so even if a player says yes then they might not be here for when we want them.”
Despite that, Smith doesn’t want to go down the route of having no overseas players for the Championship if he can help it.
“Ideally, we don’t want to do that. A good bowler will help us becuase we need some more depth in that area.
“In a couple of years when we’re a bit stronger it might be so much of an issue but at the minute we’d like to get someone in.”
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