England’s Lewis Gregory has signed for Brisbane Heat ahead of the Big Bash League.
The all-rounder has joined Somerset teammate Tom Banton at the club in preparation for this year’s tournament, which begins at the start of December.
He has played eight T20Is for England and also had spells in the PSL and BPL.
Brisbane head coach Darren Lehmann said: “He was quite sought after so we're very pleased he is coming to us.
“I know Bants (Tom Banton) rates him very highly as a leader, a player and as a person, and I only heard good things about him from the UK when I was involved with the preparations for The Hundred competition where he was lined up to skipper the Trent Rockets team.
“He has built a very respectable reputation as a finisher with the bat for Somerset in the Vitality Blast T20 competition, and he is skillful with the ball as well as having good pace.”
“It's great adding another experienced performer into the group. He's performed quite well in the overseas T20 leagues he has played in and had a good taste of Australian conditions last season as captain of the English Lions team that was out here on tour.
“I am sure he is looking at the BBL as an opportunity to show the English selectors that he is one to keep on their radar ahead of the Ashes next year.”
Gregory’s availability will come down to if he is selected for England’s white-ball tour of South Africa.
That goes on until December 9 and will also mean another 14 days in quarantine for Gregory.
Gregory Excited by BBL Challenge
The right-handed batsman and pace bowler joins countrymen Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, James Vince and Tom Curran to already sign-up for Big Bash action.
He said: “I've enjoyed the challenge of adapting to conditions when I played in the BPL and PSL and got some good insights into Australian conditions during the Lions tour so I'm certainly excited to be heading to the Heat.”
Brisbane needed to bolster their options after it was confirmed that AB de Villiers would not return to take part in this year’s tournament.
Their third overseas player is Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The move to three overseas options has been introduced by Cricket Australia after only allowing two previously.
