Hodd signs two-year Yorkshire deal

The 28-year-old initially joined the white rose county on loan from Sussex in mid-August for the remainder of the 2012 LV= County Championship season.

But wicketkeeper/batsmen Hodd has impressed sufficiently when deputising for Jonny Bairstow to be awarded a deal until the end of the 2014 campaign.

Hodd said: “I was lucky enough to get some runs on my Yorkshire debut, I’ve kept pretty well and I feel like I’ve been contributing. It’s great that the club have backed me and signed me.

“I’ve loved being in the Yorkshire changing room; and the lads have been really good and welcoming towards me. The way that Jason Gillespie and Martyn Moxon have been talking with me has been really positive.

“I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead with Yorkshire, but would also like to thank everyone at Sussex. I wish them all the best for the future and hope our paths cross in division one of the championship next summer.”

In his first three first-class outings for the Tykes, former Bexhill High School and Bexhill College student Hodd held some stunning catches and contributed a debut 58 with the bat.

The club views Hodd as an experienced pair of hands to take the gloves whenever Bairstow is unavailable due to his ever-increasing England commitments.

Former Australia fast bowler Gillespie, now Yorkshire’s first team coach, said: “Andrew is one of the best ‘keepers in the country and you want the best players in your team.”

Hodd made his first-class debut for Sussex in 2003 and has also spent time at Surrey. A former England under-19 player, he had previously played 57 first-class matches, scored 2,006 runs at 29.07 with four centuries. He has also bagged 113 catches and performed 12 stumpings in the first-class game.