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County Cricket Transfers: Winter Moves So Far

England internationals David Willey, Reece Topley and Mark Footitt have all been on the move; keep track of the latest County Cricket Transfers here.

The 2015 County Cricket season ended around two months ago, and the fixtures for 2016 will likely be announced imminently.

A few England internationals have made high-profile moves already over the winter: David Willey left Northamptonshire for Yorkshire, Mark Footitt, recently named in England’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa, has joined Surrey from Derbyshire, and Reece Topley, who picked up six scalps in the recent ODI series against Pakistan, went to Hampshire from Essex.

However, with the press coverage for counties now fairly limited, there may have been a few moves that you have missed during the close season.

COUNTY CRICKET TRANSFERS:

DERBYSHIRE

As well as Footitt’s exit to Surrey, pace bowler Jonathan Clare has been released. Andy Carter, the 27-year-old seamer, joins from Nottinghamshire on a two-year deal after turning down a new contract at Trent Bridge. Tom Milnes has joined on a permanent basis from Warwickshire, having been on loan at the County Ground last summer, and former New Zealand batsman Neil Broom, who has 32 caps across ODIs and T20Is, has signed a two-year deal as a Kolpak player. After a successful stint in Derby last year, Hamish Rutherford has re-signed as an overseas player, and will be hoping to add some firepower to the top of a strong batting order.

DURHAM

A quiet winter so far for Durham; John Hastings’ contract renewal as an overseas player is the only business up to this point.

ESSEX

The Chelmsford-based county are currently without a head coach after the departure of Paul Grayson, and have seen something of an exodus. Monty Panesar, Matt Salisbury, Greg Smith and Saf Imtiaz have all been released, Topley has joined Hampshire as mentioned, and batsman Mark Pettini has joined Leicestershire. Darren Berry, formerly the coach of South Australia in the Sheffield Shield, has reportedly declared an interest in the head coach’s role.

GLAMORGAN

Batsman Ben Wright retired aged 27 to pursue his career with a metal manufacturer, and Craig Meschede will return to Somerset after a year on loan in Wales. Dolphins seamer Mathew Pillans is a target, but no players have signed so far. Jacques Rudolph will return as the club’s overseas player.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

England’s wicket-keeper from the 2005 Ashes, Geraint Jones, has retired, and Cameron Herring and Robert Montgomery have both been released. Highly-rated seamer James Fuller has made a move to Middlesex, and the county have signed left-arm seamer Chris Liddle from Sussex to replace him.

HAMPSHIRE

As well as the aforementioned Topley, Hampshire have signed Ryan McLaren, the South African all-rounder, to bolster their faultering pace attack. Youngsters Basil Akram and Tom Barber, along with middle-order batsman Joe Gatting, nephew of former England captain Mike, have been released. Left-arm spinner Danny Briggs has joined Sussex in an attempt to resurrect his career; he was the leading T20 wicket-taker in England aged 20, but he lost his place in the County Championship side to 18-year-old leg-spinner Mason Crane in 2015. Shane Watson may appear for the Southampton-based side for the first time in eleven years next summer, with talks having taken place over a white-ball return.

KENT

There seem to be no plans in place for an overseas player to join for 2016, after a successful season without one last year. England under-19 ‘keeper Ryan Davies has joined Somerset, but that is the only change to the playing staff at Canterbury.

LANCASHIRE

Kolpak batsman Ashwell Prince has retired, and Peter Siddle, who was the overseas player for some of 2015, will not return to Old Trafford, after joining Nottinghamshire. Paul Horton has signed for Leicestershire.

LEICESTERSHIRE

Andrew MacDonald has overseen a busy winter at Grace Road. Nic Pothas, Pierre de Bruyn and Keith Piper replace Lloyd Tennant and Ben Smith on the coaching staff, and Charlie Shreck will be a player-coach having agreed to taking on the role of bowling development coach. Clint McKay remains the main overseas player, and Umar Akmal will play another year of T20 cricket for the 2011 champions. Pettini, Horton and Middlesex’s Neil Dexter will all add experience to the batting line-up, and Kevin O’Brien can provide firepower in the white-ball competitions. Alex Wyatt, Dan Redfern, Andrea Aganthangelou and Neil Pinner have all been released upon the expiry of their contracts.

MIDDLESEX

James Fuller joins Tim Murtagh, Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and James Harris in a fearsome pace-bowling quintet next season. Wayward limited-overs left-armer Gurjit Sandhu’s time at Lord’s is up, and, as mentioned, Dexter has moved to Leicestershire after a lack of first-team cricket in 2015.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Any arrivals are unlikely, on account of the dire financial situation at Wantage Road. High-earning David Willey has joined Yorkshire, and Kyle Coetzer and Maurice Chambers have both been released to help cut costs. More departures are highly possible.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

40-year-old spinner Gary Keedy has finally retired after a 23-year professional career, and Paul Franks has stepped down from first-team duties, but will continue as Second XI captain. Andy Carter has joined Derbyshire, and Peter Siddle joins on a two-year overseas contract. He will not play in the T20 format, meaning a pair of overseas players could yet be signed for that competition.

SOMERSET

Alfonso Thomas is the highest profile player to be leaving Taunton, as he is released alongside Ireland’s George Dockrell, young seamer Adam Dibble and wicket-keeper/batsman James Regan. Ryan Davies looks set to be first-team wicket-keeper after the struggles of Michael Bates – whose short-term contract has run out – and Alex Barrow last year, and Roelof van der Merwe is tasked with strengthening the middle order having signed as a Kolpak player; he has previously worked with coach Matt Maynard at Titans in South Africa. The big-name signing, however, is that of Chris Rogers, as the 38-year-old has joined for the County Championship season. He is set to bat at three to avoid breaking up the prolific Tom Abell/Marcus Trescothick opening partnership.

SURREY

Footitt is the only man to have signed so far, but Kumar Sangakkara is to return as overseas player. Vikram Solanki and Tim Linley have both retired.

SUSSEX

Steve Magoffin is set to begin a fifth season with the county, but is seeking British citizenship in a bid to allow the county to sign another overseas player. Briggs will strengthen the spin-bowling department which already contains Will Beer, but Ashar Zaidi has been released. Steffan Piolet and Michael Yardy have both retired, and seamer Liddle has gone to Gloucestershire.

WARWICKSHIRE

A quiet winter so far at Edgbaston; Milnes’ departure to Derbyshire and the release of Pete McKay and Tom Lewis is the only business of note. Jeetan Patel will be the county’s main overseas player for the eighth consecutive year.

WORCESTERSHIRE

Gareth Andrew, Shaaiq Choudry and Richard Oliver failed to earn themselves new contracts and have been released. Kyle Abbott will be the overseas player at New Road from July onwards, but the search continues to find a suitable man for the first half of the year.

YORKSHIRE

David Willey’s move to the county is the only incoming deal as yet. Richard Pyrah has retired from playing and will take on a coaching role at Headingly. Wicket-keeper Dan Hodgson, seamer Moin Ashraf and 20-year-old all-rounder Jonny Tattersall were all released in September.

 

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