Tom Lace: Gloucestershire tie up move for Middlesex batsman

Gloucestershire have announced the signing of 22-year-old batsman Tom Lace with immediate effect on a three-year contract.

Lace, who made 835 County Championship runs at 41.75 last year with three hundreds, becomes the third young Middlesex player to join Gloucestershire in four years, after Ryan Higgins and George Scott.

He spent the majority of the 2019 season on loan at Derbyshire, topping their Championship averages and making 83, 57, 16 and 125 in his four innings against Gloucestershire.

After passing a medical last week, Lace will go straight into the Gloucestershire squad for their Bob Willis Trophy match against Glamorgan on Saturday having been released from his Middlesex contract with immediate effect.

"I'm delighted to have signed for Gloucestershire for the next three years," Lace said. "I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running and helping the team to more success.

"Bristol is a brilliant city and Gloucestershire is a county full of hungry and talented young players. I'm hugely grateful to everyone at the club for the opportunity to be a part of that."

Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire's head coach, described Lace as a "very talented young batsman" with a "great work ethic".

"Last season we saw first-hand when he played for Derbyshire how good a batsman he is," he said, "and now we look forward to him scoring runs for Gloucestershire."

Angus Fraser, Middlesex's managing director of cricket, said: "We are sorry to see Tom leave. He is a fine young man with a bright future in the game. When Tom extended his contract, it was on the mutual understanding that if, for whatever reason, he was not playing regular first XI cricket he would be entitled to seek opportunities elsewhere. Everyone at Middlesex wishes him well for the future."