Warwickshire have signed Australia Test opening batter Jake Weatherald for the 2027 County Championship season.

The 31-year-old has played six times for his country, making his debut in last winter’s Ashes series where he hit 201 runs, with a top score of 72 in Brisbane, as England were hammered 4-1.

Weatherald joined Leicestershire for the start of this summer and had a successful six-game spell at Grace Road, scoring 483 runs at an average of 60.37, with a hundred and three half-centuries.

Australia are in England for the next Ashes series and the left-hander is looking to get back in the squad after being dropped following the historic defeat at home by Bangaldesh.

“Jake is a player we’ve admired for a long time – he is a proven performer who has scored heavily at the highest level and gives us additional strength at the top of the order,” Warwickshire performance director James Thomas told the club website., external

“He scored runs for Leicestershire this summer and will be eager to come back to England and impress ahead of The Ashes next year.”

Weatherald, who has scored more than 6,000 runs in his first-class career, said he “couldn’t pass up” the chance to play for Warwickshire, adding Edgbaston was “one of the great grounds in world cricket”.

“I enjoyed playing in England this year so to have the opportunity to join the Bears ahead of The Ashes is really exciting,” he added.