Joyce extends Sussex stay

Ed Joyce said: “I’ve really enjoyed my first year at the club and have settled in to the team and life on the south coast"

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Ed Joyce has rounded off an outstanding debut season for Sussex by signing a one-year contract extension to tie him to the club until the end of the 2012 campaign.

The left-handed opener joined from Middlesex a year ago and helped the Sharks retain their NatWest Pro40 title and win the Twenty20 Cup for the first time, securing a place in the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League.

The 31-year-old Irishman scored 945 first-class runs, including three hundreds, at an average of 41 - although Sussex suffered relegation in the LV= County Championship.

However, it was in List A cricket that he really excelled, with 941 runs at an average of 59, aided by three further centuries.

Joyce’s prolific run-scoring also helped Sussex to the Friends Provident Trophy final, when they lost to Hampshire, and earned him a place in England’s provisional 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my first year at the club and have settled in to the team and life on the south coast really well.

“The team had great success this year in the one-day arena. When I was offered a contract extension, I jumped at the chance and am very much looking forward to the next few years at Sussex.”

Sussex captain Mike Yardy added: “Ed had a magnificent first season at the club and performed particularly well in the one-day form of the game.

“He is a great asset to the club and will play a vital role in getting Sussex back in the (championship’s) first division.”