Hain: "It is always brilliant playing in the Blast at Edgbaston"

Record-breaker Hain commits to the Bears with two-year extension

Now he can't wait for the 2021 season to arrive so that he can play his part in the evolving and exciting squad coming together at Edgbaston.

Hain will have a huge role in the top order in all formats. Still only 25, he has already played 174 first-team games for the Bears across the formats, having made his debut aged just 18.

He took no persuading to recommit to the club recently - and, though Hong Kong-born and Aussie-bred, now considers himself a 'proper adopted brummie.'

"I was very happy to sign another contract," Hain said. "Now I just want to keep putting in performances for the Bears and help bring some more success to this great club.

Like everyone connected to cricket, after all that has happened in the last year, Hain is looking forward to the 2021 season like no other.

"All being well, we can get a full season and, at some point, get back to full crowds," he said. "It was great that we got some cricket in last year but, in T20 especially, it was very strange. We all love it with the fans watching and it will be great to have them back in red and white-ball cricket.

"In the short term, hopefully we will soon be practicing outside again. Even that will be pretty special!"

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The Bears' season will open on April 8 with an LV=Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Edgbaston. Hain and his team-mates will be eager to make a strong impression in red-ball cricket before their attention turns to the Vitality Blast in early June.

"I am really excited about the 2021 season," he said. "There is a real excitement about our squad with some really good additions in all formats. Pieter Malan is coming in with a fantastic record in all forms of the game and I am really looking forward to playing alongside him and picking his brains and learning all I can from him.

"I think the Blast will be huge this year hopefully with big crowds back in. It is always brilliant playing in the Blast at Edgbaston and, most of all in the big derby against the Rapids. They are our old rivals and it's always a game you look forward to, whether at our place or theirs.

"I've been lucky enough to score some runs against them over the years. We have had some fantastic games and it was great for us to come out on top in both of them last year."