Trio commit to Red Rose
THREE Lancashire players have signed extended contracts on the verge of the new season.
Spinner Stephen Parry, batsman Dane Vilas and wicketkeeper Alex Davies have all put pen to paper on longer deals at Emirates Old Trafford.
Davies, who yesterday hit 46 in the England Lions’ win over the West Indies, has signed an extension which will keep him at the club until at least the end of the 2020 season.
The 23-year-old became the first Lancashire wicketkeeper to hit 1,000 first-class runs in a season last year, including centuries against Essex, Hampshire and Somerset.
He was also awarded his county cap during the final game of the campaign against Surrey before earning his first England Lions call-up for their winter training camp in Australia.
He said: “I’m delighted to extend my contract at Lancashire. It’s the club I grew up watching and dreaming of playing for, so I cherish every chance I get to wear the Red Rose.
“I was pleased with my form, particularly in first-class cricket last year with the three hundreds in the Specsavers County Championship.
“There is definitely still room for improvement and I’m determined to back last year up with an even bigger one this year.
“We have an extremely exciting squad at the minute, with a great mix of youth and experience. We have made some brilliant signings over the winter to complement some of our own home-grown players and I see no reason why we can’t win some silverware in the near future.”
Parry joined the Red Rose academy in 2004 and despite being a key part of the one-day and T20 sides, until last season had he had played just nine first-class matches.
However, he was rewarded for his patience last season and was selected ahead of Simon Kerrigan in the Championship, taking 29 wickets. He has signed until the end of the 2019 campaign.
“I’ve always loved playing for the Red Rose and I am delighted to have signed this new contract,” said Parry.
“We’ve got a very talented group of players in the changing room at the moment and it’s an exciting time to be playing for Lancashire. We made some really good progress last year and it’s important we build on that in 2018. As a group, we’re all desperate to win more silverware for the club and, hopefully, we can achieve that in the next few years.”
Vilas had an impressive first season with the club last year and the South African, who had originally signed a two-year deal, has now added a further 12 months to the contract.
He said: “There were lots of positives for us to take from 2017 and we are determined to keep improving as a squad.
“As a team, we want to be challenging for silverware and we have all the qualities to do that with the talented squad we have.”