Yorkshire are confident of securing an early season overseas replacement for Aaron Finch whilst the Australian completes his duties at the Indian Premier League between early April and late May.

The White Rose county sent out a real message of intent to their rivals last week when they announced the double capture of powerful batting duo Finch and Glenn Maxwell, the latter who will only play in the NatWest T20 Blast.

Finch, a Championship winner during his first spell at Headingley last summer, has been re-signed to play in all formats of the game, but he could miss as many as five four-day matches at the start of the season.

And that has prompted the Yorkshire hierarchy to seek an international replacement for that time.

“I am hoping we can announce something fairly soon regarding the early part of the season,” confirmed director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon.

The prospect of seeing Finch and Maxwell together in a Yorkshire shirt is a mouthwatering one.

Yorkshire fans know all about Finch’s qualities from last year, but they were given a glimpse of Maxwell’s in Sunday’s one-day international between Australia and England at Perth when he hit 95 and took two wickets with his off-spinners.

“We wanted somebody who could score quickly, a boundary scorer in the mid to late stage of an innings,” said Moxon. “Glenn fits that bill absolutely perfectly. He bowls some off-spin as well, which will be useful.

“We’re delighted with them both, and they will form a fantastic partnership, no doubt. I’m sure our fans will be very excited.

“They are match winners. They definitely give us some firepower in amongst our own lads. We’ve got a really strong batting line-up, which should enable us to get to the quarter-finals of Twenty20 at least.”

Meanwhile, Maxwell has indicated to Yorkshire that he wants to fill his time around his T20 commitments by playing for the second team in order to get some cricket in against the red ball.