Australian all-rounder Michael Neser signs for Glamorgan as overseas player

Australia and Queensland all-rounder Michael Neser has signed on as an overseas player for Glamorgan for the 2021 County season.

He will play four-day cricket and the 50-over One-Day Cup for the Welsh county alongside Australian batsman, Marnus Labuschagne.

Neser's signing is a welcome addition to a squad that has recently lost South African all-rounder Merchant de Lange to Somerset. They had to let Graham Wagg go after failing to negotiate a contract extension.

The 30-year-old strengthens the bowling department, joining pacemen Michael Hogan, Lukas Carey, Ruaidhri Smith, Timm van der Gugten, Roman Walker, and Jamie McIlroy. Daniel Douthwaite is the other all-rounder in the squad.

The Queensland all-rounder has been capped twice for Australia and made his ODI debut at 'The Oval', during the ill-fated Australian tour of England in 2018 which saw the visitors lose 0-5.

Neser, however, dismissed Alex Hales and Moeen Ali to finish with tidy figures of 2-46 but conceded 74 runs in the second ODI. He returned the following summer in the Ashes squad as a travelling member but remained uncapped.

Before the 2020 season, he had inked a deal with the Surrey County Cricket Club but was cancelled in wake of the pandemic.

He hopes to benefit from his stint with Glamorgan like Labuschagne, whose prolific run in 2019 earned him a call-up to the Ashes squad after scoring 1113 runs.

"I'm thrilled to sign for Glamorgan and play in Wales," Neser said. "I've played with a few guys who have played at Glamorgan - Charlie Hemphrey, Usman Khawaja, and especially Marnus - and they've had nothing but praise for the club, the way things are done, the culture at Sophia Gardens and the friendliness of all the staff and locals. I'm still desperate to play county cricket, so when I heard Glamorgan was interested, I didn't have to think twice. I'm keen to come over, showcase my skills, and do what I can to win games of cricket for Glamorgan. I've got those international ambitions, and I saw what playing for Glamorgan did for Marnus, and I'm hoping to do the same thing."

Neser started the Sheffield Shield season earlier this month in a prolific manner, bagging his fourth career five-wicket haul and following it up with his maiden first-class century to set up an innings victory over Tasmania.

Glamorgan, alongside 17 other counties, will compete for two red-ball trophies next season which sees the return of the County Championship in a revised group-stage format before a showpiece final at Lord's of the Bob Willis Trophy.

In the County Championship, Glamorgan are grouped alongside Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire and Sussex.