Wales sign up Rachel Priest for 2018 County season

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Rachel Priest has joined Wales women as their first-ever overseas signing, ahead of their 2018 English domestic campaign. She will look to spur Wales' bid for promotion to Division One of both the Women's County One-Day Championship and the Women's County T20.

Priest, who last played for New Zealand at the 2017 World Cup last June, has played 86 ODIs, scoring 2119 at an average of 28.35 with two hundreds, and 68 T20Is, in which she has made 714 runs at a strike rate of 106.02. She was part of the Western Storm team that won the second Kia Super League in 2017, and scored a match-winning 72 off 36 balls in the final against Southern Vipers.

"It's amazing to have a player of Rachel's calibre in the team," Wales head coach Aimee Rees said. "We are still a very young squad, so it will be brilliant for our Welsh girls to gain such invaluable experience from playing and training alongside an international cricketer. It will also hopefully help inspire the next generation of welsh female cricketers."