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Black Caps Twenty20 opener has become the most expensive player in the history of Australian cricket signing a three-year contract with Big Bash League outfit the Melbourne Stars. The 27-year-old has signed a NZ$740,000 contract to join the Stars, and heads to Melbourne from the Perth Scorchers. What’smore, that contract has the potential to grow in future years when the Big Bash introduces private equity to compete with South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE’s ILT20. Not only did he finish as the competition’s leading scorer, hammering 466 runs at an average of over 42 and a strike rate of more than 180, but Allen’s 38 sixes were a Big Bash League record, en route to helping Perth lift the title. Allen then carried that form into this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in India, where he hammered a record-breaking century against South Africa to see the Black Caps into the final. “The Stars are a powerhouse team in this competition, so it’s going to be a lot of fun playing for them,” Allen said. “They’ve already got a huge fanbase and they’re only getting bigger, and I can’t wait to be a part of that. “I think all cricketers love playing at the MCG, so to be able to call that my home ground now is really exciting.” Allen isn’t the only Black Cap on the move. International opening partner Tim Seifert has a one-year contract to trade the Melbourne Renegades for the Sydney Sixers. While Seifert didn’t achieve the same success as Allen in last year’s Big Bash, 285 runs at 28.50, the Black Caps wicketkeeper is coming off the back of a title-winning season with English side Manchester Supergiants in the Hundred. The 31-year-old hit 394 runs at an average of just under 50, including 72 off 38 balls in the tournament final. It remains unclear so far how much Seifert’s contract is worth. Fellow Black Cap Mark Chapman is expected to join his teammates in Australia’s league, after opting out of his New Zealand central contract earlier this week, understood to be the Adelaide Strikers. “When you look ahead to the summer we’ve got, India here for white ball and tests and Australia away – there’s not many bigger than that – it’s quite an exciting time,” Santner explained to the Herald. “I’d like to still be part of that.” “The offer was good, I’m not going to lie. They knew it would have to be a good offer for me to entertain it with contracting and what would come up. “I did entertain the thought of it, but coming back to what we’ve got coming up, even if I’m not going to play every game of test cricket, I still feel like there’s a role for me.” Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.