Gleeson joins Warwickshire for T20 Blast

Richard Gleeson, the fast bowler who made his England debut at 34, has signed with Warwickshire for the 2024 T20 Blast after he was released by Lancashire at the end of last season.

With Henry Brookes leaving for Middlesex on a three-year deal, Warwickshire will use Gleeson as a like-for-like replacement in their T20 side. The Bears topped the North Group last year, winning 11 out of 14 group games, but were beaten by eventual runners-up Essex in the quarter-finals.

They have also brought in George Garton from Sussex, primarily for the Blast, who signed a three-year contract towards the end of last year. Warwickshire also announced on Monday that Danny Briggs, the leading wicket-taker in T20 Blast history has signed an extension until the end of 2025.

Gleeson, 36, was drafted into England's T20I squad 18 months ago and dismissed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant within his first eight balls on debut at Edgbaston. He is set to call the ground home this summer, as ESPNcricinfo understands he has signed a one-year, white-ball contract which includes an option to extend.

After playing five further T20Is in 2022, including two on the tour to Pakistan, Gleeson travelled to Australia with England's T20 World Cup squad as a reserve. He was not required in the tournament itself, though was awarded a winners' medal along with the other travelling reserves in the squad.

Gleeson has spent the last two years on a T20-only contract with Lancashire but missed the Blast in 2023 with a wrist injury and was released by the club at the end of last summer. "It's my home county: it's always going to be disappointing if they're saying they don't want you," he told the Cricketer. "[But] I hadn't played and as a player, you're paid to play cricket."

Injuries have forced him to operate as a freelancer for the last three years, having most recently played first-class cricket in August 2020. This winter, he has played for Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10, Durban's Super Giants in the SA20 and is now with Gulf Giants in the ILT20 in the UAE.