Phil Jaques is set to play for Yorkshire as a non-overseas player in 2012 and 2013 after retiring from state cricket in Australia.

The 32-year-old opening batsman has a UK passport due to being born to British parents, which means he can relinquish his overseas status pending clearance from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Jaques will bring the curtain down on a 12-season domestic career in Australia in March.

But Yorkshire still have to gain permission to register him as non-overseas because he has already played county cricket for Northamptonshire as a non-overseas and then for Yorkshire and Worcestershire as an overseas.

“We’ll need agreement from the ECB to allow him to come as a non-overseas player,” confirmed Yorkshire director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon.

“As a British passport holder, you can come and work in England without a work permit. That’s not the problem. It’s the ECB regulations where we have to make sure all the boxes are ticked.

“We need clarification on whether they are happy with that. They may not allow it but hopefully they will, given the time span between statuses.”

Should Yorkshire get the green light, it will enable them to sign somebody else to fill their main overseas berth.

Moxon said: “We’ve got a few irons in the fire but we can’t act on them until Phil’s been cleared. If we get Phil’s clearance, we probably would sign somebody else.”

The Australian domestic season is due to finish on March 20 – but if the New South Wales Blues fail to make the Sheffield Shield final, Jaques should make his last state appearance against Victoria at Melbourne on March 8.

However, the left-hander will not be available for Yorkshire’s opening County Championship fixture against Kent at Headingley on April 5 because he is getting married nine days later.

He will also miss the three-day friendly against Leeds/Bradford MCCU but will be available to face Essex on April 19.

Jaques, who has 11 Test caps for Australia, has recently finished playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the inaugural Twenty20 Big Bash League.