Lancashire announce signing of Tom Bruce as overseas player

Lancashire have signed New Zealand batter Tom Bruce as their second overseas player for 2024. The 32-year-old will link up with the club in April and, like Australia's Nathan Lyon, is expected to be available across formats for the full season.

Bruce, who has been capped 17 times in T20Is, averages 49.85 in first-class cricket and his arrival will help cover for the departure of Dane Vilas after seven seasons at Lancashire.

Bruce's most-recent New Zealand appearance came in 2020, while he captained the A side to victory in two four-day games against Australia A last September. His likely availability while the T20 World Cup is being played was cited as a factor in his signing by Mark Chilton, Lancashire's director of cricket performance.

"Tom will be available throughout the 2024 season, and this was a big draw for myself and Dale [Benkenstein] when going into the market for our overseas signings for this year," Chilton said. "This will allow Tom to settle in, become part of the squad and create consistency and stability in our team selections throughout the summer.

"Tom is a hugely experienced cricketer, and we feel that his skillset will be a good fit within our squad. He has had a hugely impressive few years with the bat in domestic cricket over in New Zealand - with an outstanding record in both the Plunkett Shield and Super Smash competitions as well as for New Zealand A and is very close to full international selection.

"With the ICC T20 World Cup taking place in June and July this year at the same time as the Vitality Blast, the availability of overseas options is at a premium. Therefore, Tom's quality, experience and full season availability makes him a strong addition to the squad.

"We believe that Tom will offer us a lot of options as he strengthens our middle order in the County Championship whilst his powerful hitting will give our batting line-up a new dimension towards the backend of an innings in the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One Day Cup."

Lancashire finished mid-table in County Championship Division One last year, after back-to-back runners-up spots, and were beaten at the quarter-final stage of both white-ball competitions.

That led to the departure of Glenn Chapple as head coach, with Benkenstein recruited from Gloucestershire during the off-season.

"This is a really exciting opportunity for me, and I can't wait to get over to England in a few months' time," Bruce said. "To have the opportunity to spend a full county cricket season with a club like Lancashire is a dream come true and to have Emirates Old Trafford as my home ground was another massive draw for me once I heard about the interest.

"I feel that I have a lot to add to Lancashire and after speaking to Mark Chilton and Dale Benkenstein I am really excited about what we can achieve together with such a talented group of players in the 2024 season."