With England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow on international duty for the majority of the summer, it means Andrew Hodd will have a good chance of a decent run of first-team cricket prior to retirement.
The 34 year old, who joined Yorkshire on-loan in 2012 from Sussex where he appeared in the County Championship winning sides of 2006 and 2007, faces competition from Jonny Tattersall in white ball cricket, but Chichester-born Hodd is the man with the gloves in the Championship.
Hodd’s move to Headingley, where he has won successive Championship titles in 2014 and 2015, came just at the right time because personally and professionally Yorkshire’s ‘keeper was rock bottom.
“I was ready to pack the game in and I was hating it a little bit,” he said. “I’d fallen out of love with cricket and I was really struggling.
“I arrived on-loan and immediately got on with the then coach Jason Gillespie, Martyn Moxon, the director of cricket, and skipper Andrew Gale whom I knew already.
“ I found that it was the right place. You can say I’ve been really lucky, I’ve found it refreshing and I’ve fallen in love with the game again.
