Josh Rymell, Ben Allison, Feroze Khushi sign new Essex contracts

The trio of academy graduates will remain with the club until at least the end of the 2023 season

A trio of young academy graduates have signed new contracts with Essex, with Josh Rymell, Ben Allison and Feroze Khushi all committing their futures to the club.

Rymell, who made his first-team debut in 2021, has put pen to paper on his first senior deal, signing a two-year contract until the end of the 2023 season.

The 20-year-old batter made 11 appearances across all formats last season, impressing in the Royal London Cup with a century against Yorkshire.

In total, Rymell scored 23 runs in three County Championship outings, 21 runs in one T20 Blast appearance and 331 List A runs in seven appearances as Essex reached the semi-final of the Royal London Cup.

Khushi and Allison, meanwhile, signed one-year extensions to also remain with the club until the end of the 2023 season.

22-year-old middle-order batter Khushi has made 12 appearances in all formats since making his debut for Essex in 2020, scoring 378 runs. He made his List A debut last season, scoring 234 runs – including one century – at 46.80.

^{Feroze Khushi and Ben Allison [Steve Bardens/Getty Images]}

Allison, a medium-pace bowler, made 11 first-team appearances for Essex in 2021, notably taking seven wickets in eight Royal London Cup outings.

Commenting on the trio, head coach Anthony McGrath, said: "The bedrock of this club has always been built on the talented youngsters coming through the academy, so to have three players of this calibre commit their futures is fantastic.

"I know it was a proud moment for Josh to make his Essex debut this year and to go on and score a maiden century made it even more memorable. This experience will prove invaluable next season where I hope he can make many more contributions with the bat.”

"Feroze found his red-ball opportunities hard to come by this year due to the depth of talent we have in this squad but I’m looking forward to him pushing hard for his spot in the starting XI next season. The Royal London Cup provided a great opportunity for our young players, so having Josh and Feroze come into the first team and hit big hundreds was great to see.

"Ben impressed us with his Championship performances before Peter Siddle joined us at the start of the season, especially his half-century against Durham which helped us to win the match. He will be an important option for us next season and I’m looking forward to watching him compete with Sam, Jamie and Shane for a place in the side."

Chief executive, John Stephenson, added: "It’s important that Essex members and supporters can enjoy watching academy graduates perform in the first team, so having three talented players like Josh, Feroze and Ben sign new contracts is great to see.

"I’m looking forward to the three of them continuing to develop and making their mark at Essex, but also provide a further exemplar to others currently working their way through the age groups."