Matt Lamb swaps Warwickshire for Derbyshire

The 26-year-old middle-order batter made 70 appearances for Warwickshire between 2016 and 2022, scoring over 2,500 runs

Matt Lamb will represent Derbyshire in 2023 after signing a two-year contract with the club.

The 26-year-old middle-order batter has spent his entire career to date with Warwickshire, coming through the academy from Under-9s, and made 70 first-team appearances between 2016 and 2022.

He scored over 2,500 runs and took 13 wickets across the formats, including scoring 565 first-class runs in 2021 to help Warwickshire lift the LV= Insurance County Championship title.

In 2022, he made eight red-ball appearances, scoring 487 runs (two centuries, one half-century), and a further eight in the 2022 Royal London Cup (128 runs). He hasn't featured in the T20 Blast for Warwickshire since July 2021.

Lamb is latest in a long list of players to leave Warwickshire at the end of the 2022 season, with Dom Sibley (Surrey), Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire) and Adam Hose (Worcestershire) also departing.

^{Lamb won the County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy with Warwickshire in 2021 [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]}

Commenting on his move, Lamb said: "I leave Edgbaston with a heavy heart, but I'm incredibly excited for the next chapter of my career.

"I will be forever grateful and thankful to everybody at the Bears who helped and coached me from an eight-year-old cricket lover to a County Champion. I have made friends for life at the club and will always look forward to returning with Derbyshire.

"Mickey Arthur's project at Derbyshire really excites me, there's a talented group of players and the level of ambition is high, that's something I want to be a part of.

"I've been pleased with my performances over the last couple of years, but I want to push myself across all formats, this is the opportunity to do that and I'm looking forward to getting going this winter."

Derbyshire head coach, Mickey Arthur, believes Lamb's arrival will help the club push for greater honours, commenting: "Matt had a strong season in Division One and that's the calibre of player we want to bring to our Club. Signing a player with a good amount of top level experience is an example of our intent.

"Our batting has been strong this year, but Matt's arrival increases that competition for places and reinforces our batting depth in all formats."

Warwickshire's director of cricket, Paul Farbrace, added: "Matt has been a fantastic servant for Warwickshire, and we thank him for everything he has done for the club.

"Matt played a key part to help secure a domestic double last season and I'm sure he'll look back at that moment and his time at the club with incredibly fond memories."