Five Players Agree Deals With Leicestershire

12 January 2012

Alex Wyatt will be hoping to prove himself a suitable replacement for Harry Gurney in 2012.

©Action Images

Four Leicestershire players; batsmen Josh Cobb, Will Jefferson and Greg Smith, along with seam bowler Alex Wyatt; have all signed one-year contract extensions with the county, meaning that they will remain at Grace Road until at least the end of the 2013 season. In addition, former Kent seamer Robbie Joseph, who was released by the club at the end of 2011, has agreed a short-term deal which will see him play in Leicestershire colours until the end of May.

However, it is the signing of Smith and Cobb, in particular, which will come as a welcome boost to the county ahead of the new season as they have lost several young home-grown players to their more moneyed neighbours over recent years. Both of them, along with Wyatt – who is expected to break into the first team on a more permanent basis in 2012 – are graduates of the club’s prolific Academy system and are all expected to have long and fruitful careers in the professional game.

Smith, a former England Under-19 who completed his degree course at Durham University at the beginning of last year, has represented the county since Under-15 level and joined the Academy in 2007. He earnt more widespread recognition among the cricketing fraternity in the latter half of 2010 when he ended the first-class season with a batting average of over 93, but endured a more disappointing 2011, averaging less than 28. He is currently spending time with the Darren Lehman Cricket Academy in Adelaide prior to the start of the new season.

Cobb, another former England Under-19, has also struggled to establish himself in Leicestershire’s Championship side, but was a key factor in them winning the Friends Life t20 last season thanks to his explosive hitting at the top of the order.

Meanwhile, Jefferson, who was signed from Nottinghamshire in 2010 after beginning his cricketing career with Essex, was the only Leicestershire batsman to pass 1000 Championship runs in 2011.

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