Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth has signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at Emerald Headingley until the end of 2020.
Lyth, who has amassed 22 First-Class hundreds since making his debut in May 2007, was magnificent in last season’s T20 Blast, scoring 535 runs from 12 appearances. He was Yorkshire’s leading run-scorer and fourth highest in the whole competition.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” he told yorkshireccc.com. “I’ve been at the Club since I was 11 years old and I was absolutely thrilled to sign an extension. Hopefully I can go and win some more trophies with this great Club.
“I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else to be honest. It’s a great Club with a fantastic history and hopefully we can put some more trophies in the cabinet over the next few years.
“I’ve known most of these guys all my career and they’re my best mates. I want to play for as long as I can with this fantastic group of players. We’ve got a great coaching staff and hopefully we’re in for a good year.”
The 30-year-old left-hander would have hoped for more runs in the Championship in 2017, having registered just one century and an average of 25.22, as opposed to his stunning form in 2014 when he posted six hundreds and as many half-centuries.
His 161 off 73 balls against Northants in August was the highest ever score in English T20 cricket and the third highest score in the world. He underpinned Yorkshire’s total of 260-4, just three short of equalling the world record score, in a thumping win.
It was an innings which earned him a contract to play in the Bangladesh Premier League for Rangpur Riders in November and December.
He added: “I’ve not really been in too much, having been over in Bangladesh in the T20. It didn’t go quite as well as I’d have liked personally, but it was nice to be on the winning side with the Rangpur Raiders, which was a great experience to play with some of the best players in the world.
“I’m just getting my movement sorted now for the red ball stuff, just getting my feet going and I feel really, really good and can’t wait for the season to start.
“We were massively below par last year as a group and we want to prove to all supporters and everyone connected with the Club that we’re a fantastic team with some great players. Hopefully we can get our hands on some silverware again.”
