Durham County Cricket Club have signed Bradley Hodge, from Australian team Victoria, as their new overseas player following the injury to Martin Love.

The 28 year old right handed batsman passed the 1,000 run barrier in the 2000-01 first-class season when he was a key player in the Bushrangers' march to a second successive Pura Cup Final. More of the same run scoring productivity was then revealed in 2001-02 when he shared the Pura Cup Player of the Season Award with Queensland's Jimmy Maher.

Love broke his little finger during the Frizzell County Championship match against Worcester in June.

First Team Coach Martyn Moxon said: "Martin's injury was a big blow for the team and with the games coming up we felt it would be better to bring in a replacement rather than rush his recovery. Bradley has a proven track record in Australia and I'm sure he will be a great addition to the team."

Chairman Bill Midgley said: " The original prognosis was that Martin's injury would take six weeks to heal and we wanted to give him every chance to recover. However, four weeks into his recovery period, it was clear that it would take another three weeks and with the games coming up we decided it was unfair to rush Martin's recovery. I'm thrilled Bradley has agreed to join us at such short notice."

© Durham CCC