The Yorkshire County Cricket Club today confirmed that Liam Plunkett is to depart for Surrey at the season’s end, signing a three-year deal with the Club.
The Middlesbrough-born 33-year-old, who is in the last year of his contract with the White Rose, will link up with the London-based club in October after the conclusion of the 2018 campaign.
Plunkett, a four-time Specsavers County Championship winner; twice with Durham in 2008 and 2009, and twice with Yorkshire in 2014 and 2015, has represented his country of 95 occasions across all three formats, taking a combined 177 wickets and also contributing 850 runs.
In his 102 appearances for the White Rose to date, he has amassed 98 First-Class wickets (171 across all formats) with a career best of 6-33 being recorded against Leeds/Bradford MCCU on debut at Emerald Headingley in 2013. Plunkett also contributed 1,933 runs with the bat since joining the club from Durham in 2012.
Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon said: “We are trying to assemble a squad that has availability and is within our budget to compete in all three domestic competitions. With that in mind we are not in a position to be able to offer Liam a new contract.
“He has played a big part in our recent success and we obviously thank him for that and wish him well for the future.”
In 2017, the dynamic fast bowler claimed 36 one-day international wickets in the calendar year, the joint second best haul in the world behind only Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan (45).
2017 saw him play only 10 times across all three forms for Yorkshire, with injury ruling him out for large parts as well as the regular international commitments.