Brett Hutton, the Nottinghamshire Academy graduate all-rounder who left for Northamptonshire in 2018, has returned to his home county on a three-year contract.
The 27-year-old paceman took 87 wickets in 22 red-ball appearances for the Wantage Road outfit at an average of 23.54, recording five five-wicket hauls.
He had claimed 106 dismissals for Nottinghamshire in 33 games prior to departing Trent Bridge, averaging 29.55 and achieving ten-wicket match hauls on two occasions.
“We were eager to keep Brett back then, but we also accepted at the time that he was leaving for the right reasons – to further his career and experience being a senior player over at Northamptonshire,” said Nottinghamshire Head Coach Peter Moores.
“We wished him well at the time and the success he’s had over there, including bowling them to promotion in 2019, has been lovely to see.
“He’s returning a better, more experienced bowler than when he left and that’s exciting for us.
“Brett has ambitions to play all three forms of the game and, working with Kevin Shine in particular, we believe there’s more to come from him both with the red and white-ball.
“What makes him the ideal signing for us right now is his pedigree in red-ball cricket. The consistency of his championship record stands up. He’s been one of the better seam bowlers around for a number of years.
“Add to that the fact that we were lacking in fast bowling depth at times last season - and that Brett’s a homegrown player, the likes of which we all love to see representing our club - and bringing him in wasn’t a difficult decision.”
A product of Farnsfield who worked his way through the Nottinghamshire age-group and Academy setup, Hutton took 68 first division wickets in 22 games across 2015 and 2016 to prove his credentials at county cricket’s highest level.
He has since become something of a promotion specialist, taking 39 wickets in nine games during Notts’ successful season in 2017 before repeating the feat, taking 35 wickets at 20, with Northamptonshire two years later.
“The aim for me is to help Notts get back to division one, then to kick on again and achieve things in the top tier,” he said.
“Looking from afar, I could see that last year they were dominating games and that the signs were there of the club turning a corner in red-ball cricket.
“I believe there’s a big part for me to play in continuing that, and I’m excited about competing for a spot in a strong and successful white-ball line-up as well.
“It will be great to get back on home turf at Trent Bridge. When it comes to finding a county I can be passionate about bowling for, there’s no-one else quite like Notts.
“I’ll be giving it everything in pre-season and out on the field next summer to play my part in bringing success to this club.”
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