GLOUCESTERSHIRE CCC will have both centurions from this year’s Big Bash League in their ranks this season after signing hard-hitting batsman Peter Handscomb as their second overseas player for 2015.

The 23-year-old, who made a blistering 103 not out off 64 balls for the Melbourne Stars vs Perth Scorchers, joins a squad that already boasts Michael Klinger, the only other player to make a hundred in the 2014/15 Australian T20 competition.

Handscomb, who can also keep wicket, will be available for all formats of the game and is expected to bat at the top of the order.

And he is sure to excite fans at the County Ground following his match-winning century against eventual BBL4 champions the Scorchers – an innings that included five sixes and six fours.

Handscomb dominated the match with his last 54 runs coming off just twenty balls.

Handscomb said: "It has always been an ambition of mine to play county cricket and I was delighted when Gloucestershire expressed an interest in me joining them. I have heard good things about the players at Nevil Road and I am looking forward to meeting up with them in April.”

'Hank', as he is known to his team-mates, has been in superb form in Australian domestic cricket this season, scoring nearly 500 runs and averaging just under 60 for Victoria in the four-day BUPA Sheffield Shield competition.

A former Australia U19 international, Handscomb represented Australia A against the England Lions in 2013 and has been widely-tipped as a future full international.

Despite living in Melbourne all his life, he holds a British passport through his English parents and has played club cricket in the UK. He was also a talented junior tennis player, but chose a career with the bat rather than a racket.

Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson said: “It is brilliant for the club to get Peter for the season. He’s coming off the back of an exceptional season with Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and also in the Big Bash League where he made headlines with his hundred for the Melbourne Stars.

“Peter is a young, exciting player who is highly rated in Australia. The people I have spoken to have all given me very positive feedback on him as a player and as a bloke. At 23 he is a similar age to the rest of the squad and will fit into our dressing room well.

“He will bring positive competition for the batting spots and new ideas from his experiences in Australia. It is a good opportunity for him to showcase his talents in English conditions – especially with Australia over here for the Ashes and we believe we can help him to continue his development.”