John Simpson departs Sussex for Nottinghamshire

Experienced wicketkeeper-batter moves to Trent Bridge for Championship and One-Day Cup

John Simpson, the Sussex wicketkeeper, has agreed a move to Nottinghamshire. His departure at the end of his contract had been expected due to the financial restrictions in place at Hove.

He will move to Notts on a two-year deal to play in the County Championship and Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

Simpson proved a revelation at Sussex after joining from Middlesex ahead of the 2024 season. He took on the Championship captaincy and led the club to promotion as Division Two winners, scoring 1197 runs at an average of 74.81 in the process.

He oversaw a fourth-placed finish the following season in Division One and, although he passed on the captaincy to Ollie Robinson this year, remained a fixture behind the stumps, ending his time at Sussex with 2864 red-ball runs at 53.03 and 11 hundreds. He also helped the club to reach the T20 Blast semi-finals in 2024.

Sussex finished third in Division One, a place above defending champions, Notts, when the season concluded last week, but the club had already confirmed a number of departures after they were put into special measures by the ECB, including Henry Crocombe, Tom Alsop and Fynn Hudson-Prentice.

"I'm really excited to sign for Nottinghamshire and experience a new challenge in my career up at Trent Bridge," Simpson said. "They're a great team with some really good players who have obviously enjoyed some success recently, so I can't wait to join up with them and keep challenging for honours.

"I loved my time at Sussex, but I'm really excited by the opportunity to take in some new surroundings and work with a new coaching team.

"I've got a lot of respect for Peter Moores, and I know his teams are always driven to succeed, so I'm excited to experience that environment and hopefully win some more trophies."

The arrival of Simpson, who played three ODIs for England in 2021, means that Nottinghamshire will not be bringing back Kyle Verreynne next year. Verreynne, South Africa's Test wicketkeeper, has been involved at Trent Bridge over the last three seasons and hit the six that secured the Championship title in 2025.

Peter Moores, Nottinghamshire's head coach, said: "John's a quality wicketkeeper and batter, with a proven track record over the last few years. It's a double-edged sword because we've loved having Kyle, and he's been fantastic for us. The big difference by having John to play the same role is the flexibility that it will give us with our second overseas spot moving forward.

"John's reputation precedes him, having done brilliantly at Sussex and Middlesex, and we're looking forward to getting him in amongst us. He will be joining a very good group of players, and we'll be looking to come back stronger next season to have another go at the title."