WORCESTERSHIRE have bolstered their squad by signing experienced batsman Alex Gidman from Gloucestershire on a two-year contract.

Gidman has put pen to paper with the LV= County Championship Division Two leaders until the end of the 2016 season.

The 33-year-old only this week scored a career-best 264 for Gloucestershire against Leicestershire at Bristol.

He also impressed Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes when making 145 in Gloucestershire's win at New Road in the Championship last month.

Gidman has scored 23 first-class hundreds and 57 half-centuries and amassed 11,000 first-class runs at an average of more than 36.

In addition, the High Wycombe-born player has compiled 4,458 List 'A' runs at an average of nearly 28.

Rhodes said: "If you look at some of the recent innings he has played, they have been quite outstanding.

"One of them was against us but also to get 260-odd in the current game against Leicestershire is also a fantastic achievement.

"We are getting someone who is in the best form of his career.

“We have been looking for a middle order player with experience who our young players can play around and learn from.

"At the moment our experienced batters are Moeen Ali and Daryl Mitchell and with Moeen’s potential future England commitments increasing, to have Alex as another experienced senior batter in the category of Daryl and Moeen can only be a benefit.”