Klinger to return for Gloucestershire next summer
26 September 2018
Popular Australian batsman Michael Klinger will return to Gloucestershire for a seventh season in 2019 after signing a contract to play and captain the side in the Vitality T20 Blast next summer.
Now 38 - he will be 39 next July - the vastly experienced Klinger has played more than 500 matches in his career, more than 350 of them in limited overs formats, giving him twice as much match time as anyone else in the Gloucestershire squad.
His tally of nearly 13,000 one day runs has shown him to be a model of consistency not only with Gloucestershire but also with the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash, and it was in March 2017 that he finally made the first of three T20 appearances for Australia when it seemed his career would end without international recognition.
Although he hasn't played first class cricket in the last two English seasons following his retirement from the longer form of the game, Klinger's contribution to Gloucestershire in the Championship has also been considerable with 11 centuries between 2013 and 2016.
Another dozen hundreds in white ball cricket mean he has scored over 7,000 runs in Gloucestershire colours, with his trademark judgement of pace within an innings often making the difference between victory and defeat.
On his return to the club, Maxy will also be starting a new role as Batting Consultant where he will be working closely with the players across all formats in the build up to and during the T20 competition.
Commenting on returning to Gloucestershire next year, Klinger said: "I am very excited to extend my contract to play for Gloucestershire in the T20 vitality blast for 2019.
This is my 7th year at the club and I love the players, staff, and supporters and I am looking forward to returning again to attempt to go one step further than this season and make finals day. I’m also particularly looking forward to taking up the role as batting consultant leading in to and during the T20 tournament."
Chief Executive, Will Brown, said: ““It is absolutely fantastic to have Michael Klinger confirm his return to Gloucestershire as a player for the 2019 Vitality T20 Blast season. He is an inspiration to team mates and supporters alike and his skills both as a batsman and Captain have shone through in every year he has played for the Club.
We are also greatly excited that he will be sharing more of his knowledge with his role as batting consultant; with an exciting young squad Maxy is ideally placed to help them develop further.”
