Warwickshire: Liam Norwell and three fellow Bears pacemen sign new deals

Injuries have limited Liam Norwell to five games - and 18 wickets - since joining the Bears after the 2018 season

Warwickshire fast bowler Liam Norwell has signed a two-year contract extension at Edgbaston.

The Bears have also signed up fellow pacemen George Garrett, Ethan Brookes and Manraj Johal on new deals.

Like Norwell, 29, academy graduates Garrett, 21, and all-rounder Brookes, 19, will be tied to the Bears until at least the end of the 2023 season after taking up full two-year contracts.

Johal, 19, gets a one-year extension to his current rookie contract until 2022.

Norwell has made just five County Championship appearances since moving to Edgbaston from Gloucestershire for the 2019 season, along with Craig Miles.

He suffered a badly-torn hamstring in only his fourth game, which caused him to miss the rest of the 2019 season, and played only one game in last summer's truncated coronavirus-hit campaign, taking four wickets in the Bob Willis Trophy against Glamorgan.

"Liam's had some terrible luck with injuries," said Warwickshire director of cricket Paul Farbrace. "But he's looking fit, he is bowling very well in training and he has an important role to play in our seam attack.

"We think a huge amount of Liam. His run of Championship games in 2019 helped turn our season around.

"George and Ethan both made their first-class debut in 2019. They are continuing to develop and learn a lot from the senior members of the squad. We think that they have big roles to play.

"Manraj has impressed all of the players and coaches since he started training with the senior men's squad last winter. He subsequently won his first rookie contract and has relished taking on more responsibility."

Warwickshire open the 2021 County Championship campaign with a home fixture against Derbyshire at Edgbaston on Thursday, 8 April.