PEARS skipper Joe Leach has targeted more success for the team and himself after committing his immediate future to New Road.
Leach penned a two-year extension to his current contract to take him to the end of the 2022 season and the all-rounder is aiming for more glory in what he hopes will be the peak years of his career.
Leach has been Worcestershire’s most prolific wicket-taker during the past five years since developing from a middle order batsman into a front-line bowler.
He has picked up 257 County Championship victims in that period despite missing two-thirds of the 2018 season with a stress fracture of the back.
Leach also chipped in with 420 runs last summer batting predominantly at number eight or nine.
“This period [of my new contract] will take in the years 29 to 32 and this is the peak (time) I suppose for what you expect. I’m really excited for what the next few years have to bring,” he said.
“Hopefully this three-year contract period can be very successful for the team and myself and we continue the white ball success for a prolonged period, build on it with the red ball and become established in Division One. That is the aim.
“It is great to have committed again to Worcestershire. I’ve loved my time here and I absolutely love playing for the club.”
Worcestershire CCC Cricket Steering Group chairman, Paul Pridgeon, who worked closely as a coach with Leach during his formative years, said: “We are delighted to have Joe signed up for the next three years and the coaching staff are of the same opinion.
“He is important to us; a wicket-taking new ball bowler, whose record over several years has been excellent.
“Joe will also be important in being an experienced player in helping a lot of talented young seamers to develop. He is looking fit and sharp – as are all the boys who are practicing hard at Malvern College.”