Hampshire have moved swiftly to sign Australia all-rounder Dan Christian following a nightmarish few days with injuries and unavailability of overseas players.

Christian, 27, has made three appearances for Australia in Twenty20 internationals and replaces the injured Brett Lee, who announced last week he could not honour his Hampshire contract due to his ongoing elbow injury, hard on the heels of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi turning his back on the county with Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath also recalled by his country.

On top of that, Hampshire Royals captain Dimi Mascarenhas is out for a month and Kabir Ali looks set to miss the rest of the season after breaking down in training. He is having a knee scan on Tuesday but Hampshire are expecting the worst.

Christian, a right-arm medium fast bowler and hard-hitting middle-order batsman for South Australia, forced his way into the national World Twenty20 squad for the Caribbean earlier this year following an impressive bow against the West Indies in February.

But the heroics of veteran Michael Hussey kept him on the sidelines, only for Australia to be humbled by England in the final.

He is only the second player with Aboriginal heritage to have represented his country after paceman Jason Gillespie.