Olly Hannon-Dalby extends Warwickshire CCC stay by two years

FAST bowler Olly Hannon-Dalby has signed a two-year contract extension that will ensure he remains with Warwickshire CCC until the end of the 2023 season, taking his time at Edgbaston to ten years.

The 31-year-old has been one of the most prominent fast bowlers in the County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy over the last two years, leading the Bears bowling attack with 69 wickets in 17 games at an average 23.94.

Hannon-Dalby joined the Bears ahead of the 2013 campaign and played a huge part in the T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup victories in 2014 and 2016 respectively.

He was awarded his county cap at the end of the 2019 season and, across his career to date, he has taken 200 First Class, 65 List A and 75 T20 wickets.

“I’m chuffed to bits to put pen to paper and to sign for the Bears for an extra two years,” said Hannon-Dalby.

“I would have bitten anyone’s hand off when I joined the club in 2013 if they were to say that I would be here for at least ten years.

“It’s a very special club to be part of and I can’t thank the members, players, coaches and staff enough for making me feel so welcome here; it made it very easy for Birmingham to quickly become my home.

“We tasted some great success in my early years with the club and we’ve got a very exciting crop of players coming through who can push us towards more trophies in the near future.

"I’m very excited to know that I will be part of that.”

In 2020, Hannon-Dalby cleared up at Warwickshire's end of season awards by claiming honours for Members’ Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year, Bob Willis Trophy Player of the Year and the Rick Coleman Award for community engagement.

He was also named by The Cricketer Magazine as its Lockdown Hero in the Professional Cricketer category for his efforts made in the #MakeThatCall campaign and supporting the food storage and distribution hub at Edgbaston.

Director of cricket Paul Farbrace said that while Hannon-Dalby had be initially thought of as a "white ball specialist", he took his chance to lead the Bears attack in 2019 in "difficult circumstances and he hasn't looked back".

“He has quickly built a reputation as one of the best red ball bowlers on the county circuit and he has become a leader who always spends time supporting our younger fast bowlers," said Farbrace.

“It’s also a measure of him as a man that he spends a huge amount of time giving to the cub off the field, whether that’s through coaching, our community work, acting as the PCA representative and even co-hosting the Bears PodBlast on BBC WM.”