Lancashire seam trio sign new contracts

Kyle Jarvis, Tom Bailey and Gavin Griffiths have all signed new contracts with Lancashire County Cricket Club.

Zimbabwean seamer Jarvis was recognised as the club's Championship Player of the Season after taking 62 wickets in red-ball cricket at a tidy average of 24.47. Jarvis' imperious form was cut short by a broken hand, suffered in preparation for Twenty20 Finals Day.

Bailey's first full season at Lancashire saw a promising return of 35 wickets in the second division of the LV= County Championship, including career-best figures of 5-12 against Leicestershire.

21-year-old Griffiths featured sparingly in limited-overs cricket, but whenever he had the chance to prove what he could do, he certainly delivered. Griffiths bowled only the sixth maiden to ever be bowled at Finals Day - his very first over for Lancashire in T20 cricket - and he went on to feature in the final against Northamptonshire, as the Lightning finally lifted their T20 curse.

Director of Cricket and Head Coach, Ashely Giles, said: "It is imperative that we have a group of strong and talented seam bowlers and all three have had an impressive season.

"Kyle was the pick of our bowlers in red ball cricket and it was a real shame that his injury stopped him from playing in the final games, while Tom made some excellent contributions in all forms of the game. Gav had a T20 debut to remember at Finals Day and to bowl a maiden in his first over was quite remarkable. All three are important to the future of Lancashire," he added.

Bailey took 35 Championship wickets in 12 appearances.

Lancashire were very fortunate to have the services of Australian duo Peter Siddle and James Faulkner this season. However, after returning to Division One, Lancashire have turned their attention to the future and established a strong network of talented youngsters.

Bailey has progressed to first-team cricket after featuring for Lancashire in the 2014 season as a scholarship player, while England Under-19 joint-captain, Haseeb Hameed, took his opportunity at the top of the order against Surrey in the final home game of the season by scoring 91 in only his third first-class game for the Red Rose County.

Griffiths, meanwhile, has not had the opportunity to prove himself in four-day cricket as yet, but his usefulness in limited-overs cricket will certainly provide Lancashire with the depth they have lacked in the bowling department in previous seasons.

Griffiths also took four wickets in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

As well as a scintillating T20 debut at Edgbaston, Griffiths made four appearances in the 50-over contest, with his best performance coming against Nottinghamshire Outlaws, who he claimed 3-41 against at Liverpool.

The performances of Jarvis towards the start of the season were particularly memorable; his new-ball pairing with Siddle made Lancashire a dangerous opponent and when Faulkner replaced the Aussie paceman, this trend continued to Lancashire's gain.

Jarvis was, alongside opening batsman Karl Brown, also awarded his county cap at the end of season awards last weekend.

In addition to the aforementioned contract extensions, academy prospects Rob Jones and Danny Lamb have been recruited on scholarship deals with the club.