Goldsworthy extends stay
Somerset County Cricket Club have announced that Lewis Goldsworthy has signed a contract extension.
The 21-year-old’s current deal was set to expire at the end of 2023, but he has now agreed an extension until the end of the 2024 campaign. The right-handed batter and left-arm spinner, who honed his skills at Troon CC, worked his way through the Cornish Player Pathway before joining the Somerset Academy in 2016.
He first came to prominence in 2018 by scoring 178 for the Somerset Under-17s against Surrey.
Goldsworthy, who was educated at Millfield School, was one of the standout performers for the Somerset Second XI in 2019 and impressed for England Under-19s at the World Cup in 2020.
He made his First XI debut for Somerset in 2020 in the Vitality Blast victory at Glamorgan, making an immediate impact by scoring 38* from 29 balls and claiming 2-24.
Since that day, he has gone on to become a regular for the club across all formats of the game, representing Somerset on more than 50 occasions, scoring over 1,500 runs and claiming 29 wickets.
After signing his contract extension, Goldsworthy said: “Obviously, I’m really excited about this. I’ve loved my first three years at the club, and I’m delighted to be signing for a bit longer. Hopefully, I can keep on developing and improving and help us to win some trophies.
“Playing for Somerset means everything. I’ve got a lot of good friends here and it’s great to be able to commit my future to the club.
“The last three years have gone really quickly, but I feel that my game has developed a lot in that time. That’s a credit to the coaching team that we have here. Hopefully, I can repay everyone by helping us to win some silverware.”
Somerset director of cricket, Andy Hurry added: “It has been impressive to observe Lewis’ progression over the last three seasons after graduating from the Somerset Academy.
“We are excited to see the next chapter of his cricketing journey unfold, and we are relishing the opportunity to continue to work with him over the next few years to build on his achievements to date.”
Elsewhere, The River Stand at the Cooper Associate County Ground is to be renamed the James Hildreth Stand in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the club throughout his career.
Hildreth said: “It’s an incredible honour. It doesn’t quite seem real yet because it hasn’t sunk in. When you look at some of the names on the pavilions, stands and gates here, it’s a genuine honour to be included in that list. It’s an amazing gesture from the club and I’m truly humbled.”
Somerset bowling coach Steve Kirby will also be leaving at the end of the season to take up the position of lead bowling coach for Zimbabwe. The former fast bowler played for Somerset between 20112014, claiming over 180 wickets across the three formats before rejoining the club as a coach last season.
Kirby said: “I genuinely love the club and I’m going to miss everyone immensely. I’ve built up some amazing relationships over the past two years, however, when this opportunity came along, I felt it was one that was too good to ignore.”