Australian batsman Michael Klinger will return to Gloucestershire for a seventh season in 2019 after signing a contract to captain the side in the Vitality T20 Blast next summer.

The 38-year-old has played more than 500 matches in his career, with more than 350 of them in limited overs formats, giving him twice as much match time as anyone else in the Gloucestershire squad.

On his return to the club, Klinger 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.

Klinger has a total of close to13,000 one day runs in his career while he's clocked up over 7,000 for Gloucestershire. Between 2013 and 2016, he clocked up 11 centuries in the County Championship before he retired from the longer format of the game.

In March 2017 that he finally gained international recognition by Australia and made the first of three T20 appearances.

Klinger was delighted to sign his extension. He 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, added: "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.”