Middlesex Cricket is today delighted to announce that Ryan Higgins is set to leave Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and re-join Middlesex at the end of the 2022 season.
All-rounder Higgins, 27, has signed a four-year contract with Middlesex, keeping him at Lord’s until at least the end of the 2026 season. He will join up with the Middlesex squad later this year, at the start of November, when the playing group report back for winter training.
This will be Higgins second stint at Middlesex, having initially represented the Club between 2014 and 2017, after coming through the Club’s Academy system as a youngster.
After graduating through the Academy, he made his Second Eleven debut for the Club in 2012 – the first of 94 appearances he made for Middlesex’s Second Eleven across all three formats.
His First Eleven debut came in June 2014 in the NatWest T20 Blast with his List-A debut coming in the same season a month later. A First-Class debut came in the 2017 season, against Yorkshire in the County Championship at Lord’s, which was followed by just three further First-Class appearances that year before he made the decision to leave Middlesex for Gloucestershire at the end of the season.
In his first stint with Middlesex, he made a total of 57 First Eleven appearances, hit 900 runs, and claimed 31 wickets across all three formats.
Since joining Gloucestershire he has flourished into one of the finest domestic all-rounders in the game, making 131 appearances across all three forms of the game, hitting just short of 4,000 runs, and taking over 260 wickets.
His highest First-Class career innings came in 2019, when he hit 199 against Leicestershire at Grace Road and his best return with the ball came in 2020 against Warwickshire in Bristol when taking 7 for 42.
Higgins is currently playing for the Hundred franchise Welsh Fire and featured in last night's opener to this year's competition against Southern Brave, having been retained by the Fire this summer after making three appearances for the franchise in last year's inaugural Hundred competition.
Speaking of Higgins’ return to Middlesex, the Club’s Head of Men’s Performance Cricket, Alan Coleman, commented:
“Over the last few seasons, Ryan has developed into one of the finest and most consistent domestic cricketers in the game. He offers a huge amount to any side with both bat and ball, and we are delighted to have secured his signature on a long-term contract with Middlesex.
“As a youngster he showed enormous talent, and we were naturally disappointed when he made the decision to leave the Club back in 2017, but as a player his desire to play more First Eleven cricket was not something we could guarantee at the time.
“We have closely watched his career develop over his time at Gloucestershire and when the opportunity arose to open up discussions with him about returning to Lord’s we jumped at the opportunity.
“He is a great bloke, has kept in close contact with many of his friends in our dressing room, and we know what he is all about and what he can bring to a side. He will settle back into the Club seamlessly and we can’t wait to see him back in a Middlesex shirt.”
On re-joining Middlesex, Ryan Higgins himself commented:
“As a young kid coming up through the Academy I always had an ambition to play for Middlesex. In the first chapter it wasn’t to be, but in this second chapter I’m looking forward to offering all I can on and off the pitch to help Middlesex to success.
“It made so much sense to come back home, and when the opportunity came about I knew I had to take it. I am so excited for the cricket to be played over the next few years and the people I will be playing it with.
“I am excited to contribute to challenge for trophies and can’t wait to be playing again with mates who are still at Middlesex.
“I’m absolutely buzzing to be back.”
ENDS
