YORKSHIRE have signed Peter Handscomb as their new overseas batsman for the forthcoming county season, with the Australian pencilled in to bat at number three.

First-team coach Andrew Gale is likely to have the new Test star at his disposal for the majority, if not all, of the 2017 summer.

He has earmarked Handscomb as the most likely man to fill the number three spot in County Championship cricket, while the Victorian should prove to be an asset in the limited overs arena as well.

Handscomb, a 25-year-old longstanding target for the White Rose, recently broke into the Australian Test team on the back of 410 runs from four Sheffield Shield matches for his state this winter, including a career best 215 against New South Wales.

He has since scored 54, 105, 35 and 54 in five Test Match innings against South Africa and Pakistan.

His most recent 54 came during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, which finished earlier today.

“Peter is someone that we have had our eye on for a while,” revealed Gale.

“We looked at him as an option for last season, but the schedules didn’t quite work out.

“Since then, he has gone from strength-to-strength, breaking into the Australian team and scoring his first Test hundred.

“We are getting a guy who is on the up. He is young and wants to prove himself on the biggest stage. That will be good for us in county cricket.

“Number three is where he might slot into in county cricket, but that is yet to be decided.

“He gives us another option with the gloves as well as he keeps wicket in the shorter forms for Victoria.

“The good thing is that he is a good player in all formats, which suits us well given that he will be available for most of the season.”

Handscomb, who has a unique set-up at the crease, has previously played county cricket for Gloucestershire in 2015, scoring four fifties in 20 appearances in County Championship and T20 cricket.

Despite a healthy limited overs record in domestic cricket, Yorkshire do not expect the right-hander to be selected by the Australians for next summer’s Champions Trophy in England.

He has also not been retained by Pune for the next edition of the Indian Premier League.

But there are two home Tests scheduled between Australia and Bangladesh in August and September.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, added: “We are delighted to secure Peter’s signature for the 2017 season.

“Peter is a player that we have been aware of for a couple of years now, and he has made an excellent start to his Test career.

“We look forward to welcoming him to Headingley, and hope that he enjoys playing his cricket for Yorkshire next year.”

Handscomb is likely to play in the latter stages of the ongoing Big Bash T20 league for Melbourne Stars after the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sydney next week. It is a format he has scored a century in.

He debuted in first-class and List A cricket in 2011, the year he played for Leicestershire’s second XI, and Twenty20 cricket in 2012.

He holds a British passport courtesy of English parents, while he was also a talented junior tennis player.