England seamer Liam Plunkett will join Surrey at the end of the season after Yorkshire decided against renewing his contract.
A key component of England’s white-ball revolution over the past two years, Plunkett has penned a three-year deal to move to the Oval.
The 33-year-old forged many career highlights during his six years at Headingley, including winning the County Championship twice, and remained grateful to the club for providing the spark to reignite his international career.
“Obviously Yorkshire took a chance on me after Durham and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. I feel as though I’ve played some of my best cricket at Yorkshire, including getting myself back in to the England team,” Plunkett told Yorkshire’s official website.
“I feel like I’ve met some really good people, made some fond memories and won some good trophies for an incredibly passionate club.”
“There comes a time in people’s careers where you don’t get offered a contract. Obviously, Yorkshire want to go in a different direction.
“It’s disappointing that it has come to an end but it is incredibly exciting that I’ve got a chance to go to another really big club and hopefully win some more silverware with them.”
Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon alluded to his objective of assembling a squad which remains in the confines of the team’s budget, saying the club ‘are not in a position to be able to offer Liam a new contract’.
His experience will now lend itself to runaway County Championship leader Surrey, come the end of the season.
Already boasting the substantial experience of Morne Morkel, Jade Dernbach and Rikki Clarke in the bowling department, director of cricket Alex Stewart expressed his desire to Plunkett deliver success across all three formats.
“When a player of Liam’s ability and experience becomes available it makes perfect sense to sign him. Adding him to our squad gives us great options in all formats and we look forward to seeing him playing for Surrey over the coming years.”
