Bevon Jacobs set to take leave from Auckland commitments for BBL gig

New Zealand's emerging finisher Bevon Jacobs will join his compatriot Tim Robinson at Brisbane Heat for the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) season. Jacobs, 24, has been signed as a short-term replacement for English allrounder Tom Curran, who will miss the start of the competition owing to family commitments.

Jacobs will take his place for Heat's opening game against Sydney Sixers at home on December 15 and their two subsequent games, both away, on December 17 and December 21. Curran is poised to join the side ahead of their Boxing Day fixture against his old club Sixers in Sydney.

With the BBL overlapping with the Plunket Shield, New Zealand's premier red-ball competition, Jacobs is set to miss Auckland's opener against Northern Districts, which starts on November 19 in Hamilton. After completing his BBL commitments, he will return to action for Auckland.

As for Robinson, he has given up his domestic contract at Wellington and has opted for a casual deal, making himself available to Heat for the entire BBL season. As a result, Robinson will miss the entire 20-overs Super Smash to go with one four-day Plunket Shield fixture.

After Robinson dropped out of his contract, Ryan Tsourgas, a 20-year-old seamer, was handed a full-time contract for the 2026-27 season. Tsourgas represented New Zealand in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup and has been part of Wellington's wider set-up for the past two domestic seasons.

While Jacobs is uncapped in the BBL, he is already a T20 globetrotter with stints in the IPL (Mumbai Indians), ILT20 (MI Emirates), PSL (Quetta Gladiators), CPL (Antigua and Barbuda Falcons) and GSL (Desert Vipers). In the previous Super Smash season, Jacobs reeled off five half-centuries in a row, drawing level with Devon Conway for the most consecutive fifties by a New Zealand batter in domestic cricket.

Jacobs also has experience playing in Australia: he was part of the T20 Max competition in 2024 and cracked a 40-ball hundred at the time, which caught the attention of the Mumbai Indians' scouting network. More recently in August, Jacobs toured Australia with the New Zealand A team for the Top End T20s in Darwin. Against a Hobart Hurricanes' Academy attack, which included fast bowler Billy Stanlake and ambidextrous spinner Nivethan Radhakrishnan, he hit 58 off 30 balls to set up New Zealand A's win.

"Bevon has been on our recruiting lists since he showed his power and skill in the KFC T20 Max a few seasons ago and it's been exciting to see him earn his first international caps since then," Queensland Cricket's general manager - high performance, Bennett King, said in a statement. "He has been successful at the top of the order and as a finisher in his career so far and we're looking forward to seeing him in action for the Heat."

Jacobs' immediate assignment is the five-match T20I series against India at home, which begins with the first game in Christchurch on October 22.

Brisbane Heat squad

Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Tom Curran, Lachlan Hearne, Bevon Jacobs, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Michael Neser, Nathan McSweeney, Matt Renshaw, Tim Robinson, Callum Vider, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth