Gloucestershire vice-captain James Bracey has signed a three-year contract extension with the Membership, holding him on the Seat Distinctive Stadium till the top of the 2028 season.
The 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, who made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire in September 2016 towards Sussex, has since been a mainstay of the aspect.
Talking to the Membership about his contract extension, Bracey stated: “I’m actually excited to have dedicated long-term.
“It’s been within the works for a short time, and we clearly needed to get it finalised so we will assault the brand new season.
“I’m joyful to be signing a long-term deal the place we will proceed engaged on the challenge we’ve bought right here and goal to deliver success throughout all codecs.”
Since his debut, Bracey has amassed 192 appearances throughout all codecs, scoring over 7,000 runs and recording 314 dismissals behind the stumps.
A frontrunner within the Glos dressing room, Bracey will captain the 2025 season opener towards Derbyshire within the absence of Cameron Bancroft.
Derbyshire Problem
On captaining the group towards Derbyshire, Bracey stated:
“I’m honoured to have been requested to be captain.I’ve achieved it a number of instances earlier than, and it’s at all times an space of my recreation that I’m trying to maintain bettering.
“I’ve been talking with Cam [Bancroft] to helpget throughout a few of his messages. He’s bought some nice concepts on how we will deal with [the season]. Hopefully, I can get the ball rolling prepared for him to come back again into the group within the second week.”
“The squad’s wanting good – everybody’s match and raring to go, and we’ve bought loads of choices.
“We have to go to Derbyshire anticipating to win. We’re conscious of their strengths, and so they’ll be feeling the identical method. You need to get factors on the board as getting a optimistic begin is admittedly key.”
The contract extension provides a further three years to his present deal, which was as a result of expire on the finish of the 2025 season.
A capped England Check cricketer, Bracey made his worldwide debut in 2021, holding wicket in two matches towards New Zealand.
On the eve of the brand new season, Head Coach Mark Alleyne spoke of his delight that Bracey will stay a Gloucestershire participant for not less than one other 4 years:
“It’s an actual tonic when a participant like James commits himself to our Membership.
“We’re captivated with our cricket right here, and James is the epitome of that.
“His presence and dedication final 12 months was distinctive, and his reward was a stellar season and a brand new contract.
“It’s good work from the Membership to safe him on the peak of his profession, and I look ahead to some extra nice issues as we embark on a brand new marketing campaign.”
Bracey’s record-breaking 2024 season
Bracey etched his identify into the Gloucestershire file books with a sequence of exceptional achievements all through the 2024 season:
* In September 2024, he set the file for essentially the most dismissals in an innings (7) and in a match (11) for Gloucestershire versus Middlesex at Lord’s.
* In T20 cricket, Bracey took his dismissal complete to 37, overtaking Steve Adshead as the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper with essentially the most profession dismissals.
* His first-class career-best rating of 207* got here towards Leicestershire at Bristol in August 2024.
* Bracey surpassed 1,000 profession runs in T20 cricket throughout the 2024 season.
* Throughout 13 County Championship matches in 2024, he amassed practically 1,100 runs at a median of 60.5, together with two double centuries – one at Bristol and one at Cheltenham.
* He was ever-present within the Gloucestershire aspect throughout all codecs in 2024.
* Batting at three, Bracey performed a pivotal function within the Membership’s historic Vitality Blast triumph. He top-scored with an unbeaten 49 within the semi-final towards Sussex, placing Gloucestershire on a collision course with Somerset, in the end toppling the Membership’s West Nation rivals within the last at Edgbaston.
Instrumental
With 84 first-class appearances to his identify, Bracey appears set to stay an instrumental participant in a Gloucestershire aspect focusing on a return to Division One of many County Championship in 2025. The batter is 161 runs in need of 5,000 within the red-ball format.
His highest white-ball rating stays the unbeaten 224, notched towards Somerset within the Metro Financial institution One Day Cup in August 2023 at Bristol. This exceptional innings stays the very best rating in Checklist A cricket by a Gloucestershire participant.
Bracey’s prolonged keep is a significant enhance for Gloucestershire on the eve of the 2025 marketing campaign and ensures followers can get pleasure from not less than 4 extra seasons of the home-grown wicketkeeper-batter.
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