Lancashire have signed Australia batter Ben McDermott for the 2026 T20 Blast season.

The 31-year-old right-hander, who has featured for Hampshire Hawks in the Blast before, will join for the duration of the tournament.

McDermott has scored more than 3,000 runs in Australia’s Big Bash League and has also featured in The Hundred, SA20, Caribbean Premier League, Abu Dhabi T10, Hong Kong Sixes and the Global Super League.

“The Blast is a competition I’ve always enjoyed during my previous spells in England with Hampshire,” he told the club website., external

“I’m excited to get over to Manchester, meet the lads and play my part in what I hope will be a really successful season for us in T20 cricket.”

McDermott, who is the son of former Australia fast bowler Craig, made 44 appearances for Hampshire in the Blast between 2022 and 2024 and scored 10 half-centuries in a total of 1,138 runs.

He also hit 62 off 36 balls in the 2022 final as they beat Lancashire by one run at Edgbaston and has been capped 30 times by Australia in one-day internationals and T20s.

Lancashire’s director of cricket performance Mark Chilton added: “Ben is a very versatile batter in T20 cricket. He’s done a lot of batting in the top three during his career, but in more recent times he’s dropped into a four or five role, with a strong record against spin.

“Availability was another key parameter for us, and Ben being around for the whole competition meant that he was ticking a lot of boxes and was right at the top of our shortlist.”