Richard Gleeson agrees T20 contract with Birmingham Bears

The 36-year-old pace bowler departed the Red Rose in October after missing last year’s Vitality Blast through injury.

However, he has penned a deal which covers the Bears’ group games and any knockout matches.

Gleeson played six T20 internationals for England, the first of which came at his new home ground of Edgbaston in 2022.

That saw him pick up the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli in the space of four balls as he eventually finished with 3-15.

He told the Bears’ website: “It’s amazing to sign for such a big club and I can’t wait to be a Bear.

“I can see we’ve got a really strong squad so hopefully we can bring home the trophy in front of our own fans at Edgbaston.

“It’s an amazing stadium, somewhere that’s close to my heart after making my England debut there.

“I can’t wait to get out in front of that home crowd again, take a few poles and win some games.”

The club’s performance director, Gavin Larsen, added: “Richard is an exciting appointment that adds another quality and proven bowler to our T20 Blast squad.

“His pace bowling offers us a skill-set that will be vital and, alongside Hassan Ali, will give us great coverage at both ends of the bowling innings.

“Richard has been bowling well for his respective teams in this year’s SA20 and ILT20 and we look forward to him arriving here at Edgbaston and becoming a key member of the Bears squad.”