Leicestershire County Cricket Club is pleased to announce homegrown batsman Sam Evans has signed a contract extension ahead of the 2023 season.

The 25-year-old cemented himself as a first team regular in red-ball cricket at the beginning of the 2021 season, after a blistering start saw him register three centuries in as many matches, including a career-best 138 at The Oval against Surrey.

His battling spirit with bat in hand was best exemplified at Durham at the start of the 2022 season, when the opener grinded out a 254-ball 77 not out to save the game on the final day at Chester-le-Street.

After a stint out of the side in the middle of the 2022 summer, Evans returned strongly to finish the Championship campaign with two half-centuries in his final three matches.

Collectively, the Leicester-born batsman has accrued 1,482 runs across 35 first-class and List A matches, and was afforded the proud honour of captaining his home county for the high-profile four-day fixture against India in June.

A product of the academy at Grace Road, Evans joined the pathway setup at Under 11 level, before signing his first Leicestershire contract and debuting in the summer of 2017.

It followed an impressive run as a student in the Loughborough MCCU side, including a score of 114 against Northamptonshire in just his second first-class innings.

Evans has spent the winter Down Under, turning out for Melbourne-based side Kingston Hawthorn CC, where he has topped the club’s run charts with 461 at an average just shy of 42.

Discussing his extension, Evans said: “Every time I walk out onto the pitch for my hometown club, it’s a dream come true. It’s a feeling that will never get old. I love playing with this group. We’re in a really positive place to push for success this season and make our fans proud.”

Director of Cricket, Claude Henderson, added: “Sam is a true clubman. He’s very popular in the dressing room and this deal represents another opportunity for him to firmly establish himself in both red-ball and white-ball cricket.”

Evans is the latest Fox to commit his future to the club, joining Chris Wright, Nick Welch, Will Davis, Wiaan Mulder and Naveen-ul-Haq in extending his stay with Leicestershire into 2023.

Photo credit: John Mallett