Benjamin leaves Bears for Kent

Chris Benjamin is set to leave Warwickshire after agreeing a move to Kent.

briggford

2024-09-30T12:00:00.000Z

The wicketkeeper batter – who made 68 Bears appearances in all formats – has signed a three-year deal at the Canterbury club and will join when his Warwickshire contract expires at the end of October.

Benjamin enjoyed a stunning start to his Bears career hitting half centuries on both his T20 and List A debuts in the space of four days in July 2021.

And he followed that up by amassing 127 on his first red ball outing for Warwickshire the following month at Lancashire.

But the 25-year-old, originally from Johannesburg, struggled to make an impact in the last two Vitality Blast seasons in which he’s averaged 16.26 and 11.40 respectively.

Benjamin said he’d enjoyed four “incredible” years at Edgbaston but felt the time was right to move on.

“I can't believe how quickly the time’s gone,” he added. “It feels like just the other day I walked into the dressing room as a trialist, as a rookie, and made my debut. It’s been fantastic a lot of great memories and great friendships.

“It was a very tough decision to leave. I’ve made Warwickshire my home. Ultimately you have to pursue your own career, sometimes you must be a little bit selfish in that regard.

“The main thing for me was an opportunity to play more cricket in all formats. I’ve had great opportunities with the Bears, but mainly in white ball cricket. The last couple of seasons have been a bit frustrating on the red ball front getting limited opportunities.

“But ultimately we've had a very strong Championship batting line-up so I do understand. It’s an exciting new challenge for me.

“We have a talented group at Warwickshire and I do think there are trophies just around the corner for the Bears so moving on hasn’t been an easy decision to make.”

Benjamin made 47 T20 appearances for the Bears (22.81 ave), 11 List A games (37.14 ave) and 10 First Class games in which he scored 378 runs at an average of 22.23.

He thanks Bears fans for their support over the years.

“I’ve had some special moments: my century on my Championship debut at Old Trafford and winning the Championship that same year. They are memories that will stay with me forever.