Redbacks get Pollard

A pre-emptive strike has seen South Australia beat New South Wales to the prize signature of West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard for the upcoming KFC Twenty20 Big Bash tournament.

Pollard was on the Blues' radar after smashing 54 off 18 deliveries in their Twenty20 Champions League game against Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month.

But the Redbacks had already identified the talent before that powerful knock and are 'stoked' the 22-year-old has decided to make Adelaide Oval his temporary home.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) signed the hard-hitting right hander on Tuesday but waited until Thursday to announce it in order to clear the deal with the West Indian Cricket Board.

SACA High Performance Manager Jamie Cox said Pollard, along with the state's other international recruit Shahid Afridi, would boost the Redbacks' chance of winning the domestic Twenty20 tournament.

"We're just delighted he's coming, we know he's been pretty hot property, we know after his efforts in the Champions League that he would've been on the short-term shopping list of a lot of states so we are absolutely stoked," Cox said.

"I don't know what convinced him to come to us, it was just a pure timing thing, these things often are."

"I must admit when I first saw it, I was also seeing New South Wales' interest, and was thinking is this really his signature on this document?"

"We were pretty confident anyway and I think just having these two players in the mix really does give us extra confidence."

Redbacks' coach Mark Sorell said Afridi and Pollard were big signings but couldn't win the Big Bash on their own.

"There's no doubt these two players bring a great strength and depth to our group but we still need our other players to perform well and play their roles," Sorell said.

"They are looking forward to playing with these guys, not sort of underneath them and relying on them."

Sorell was optimistic the duo would gel well with their Redback team-mates even if they have limited time with the squad before their opening clash against the Warriors on December 29.

That match will have a definite West Indian flavour as Western Australia has signed Chris Gayle for the Twenty20 competition following the completion of his country's Test series against Australia.

"We won't have a huge amount of time, that's just the reality, but coming into our group, our group is a pretty strong and sturdy group at the moment and welcomes people coming in so I don't see it being a major problem."