Richard Gleeson: Warwickshire have signed the England T20 paceman for the Blast

Warwickshire have signed England T20 paceman Richard Gleeson after he was released at the end of the season by Lancashire.

Gleeson, 36, has signed a contract to play all group matches in the T20 Blast for the Birmingham Bears – plus finals day, if they make it.

“He adds another high-quality, proven player to our T20 squad,” Warwickshire Performance Director Gavin Larsen said.

“He brings a skillset that will be vital, alongside Hasan Ali, at both ends of the innings.”

Gleeson, who is currently playing in the UAE, should make his debut for the Bears against Notts on June 1 at Edgbaston, having made his sensational England T20 debut at the age of 34 in July 2022.

In the space of just four balls, he caught both Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant off Jos Buttler, and then took the prize wicket off Virat Kohli.

“It's a place close to my heart after making my England debut there,” he said. “I can't wait to get out in front of the home fans again, make some runs and win some games.”

After playing cricket for his hometown club Blackpool along with five years at minor counties level with Cumberland, Gleeson did not play first-class cricket until he was 27, when he signed for Northamptonshire in 2015.

He impressed at Wantage Road over the next three summers, helping Northants reach Finals Day, which he missed through injury, before signing for Lancashire at the end of the 2018 season.

He signed a T20-only deal when Lancashire reached the 2022 Blast final, taking 25 scalps to finish as the leading wicket-taker.

This earned him a call-up to the England squad and he went on to win five more ODIs, as well as being named as a travel reserve in Buttler's victorious T20 World Cup campaign.

He missed the 2023 Blast with a wrist injury but was fit enough to return in time for the men's hundred when he was in the Manchester Originals side that were beaten in the final at Lord's by the Oval Invincibles.

After playing for the Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 before Christmas, he made three match-winning appearances for the Durban Super Giants in the South Africa T20 earlier this month before moving to the Persian Gulf to play in the I-League.