Dom Sibley: Surrey re-sign Warwickshire and England opener

Dom Sibley averaged just 14.25 in two Tests against India last summer before being dropped by England

England opener Dom Sibley is to rejoin Surrey from Warwickshire at the end of the season after five-and-a-half years with the reigning county champions.

Sibley, 26, whose current Bears deal runs out at the end of this summer, has been at Edgbaston since arriving, initially on loan, in August 2017.

In that time, he has made the breakthrough as an England player, scoring 1,042 runs in 22 Tests.

But he has not played for England since August 2021.

He was dropped during last summer's Test series against India, then lost his central contract last October.

Epsom-born Sibley, who came through the Surrey academy and became the youngest double centurion in County Championship history when he scored 242 against Yorkshire at the Kia Oval in 2013, aged 18 years and 21 days, was offered a new deal by his native county in 2017, only to choose to move to Edgbaston.

But Sibley, whose contract details at Surrey have not been disclosed, now feels the time is right to return.

"I'm really excited to be returning home," he told the Surrey website. "It feels great and I'll be hoping to make match-winning performances that contribute to success and trophies."

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart said he was pleased to bring a player he did not want to leave in the first place back to The Oval.

"I truly believe his best years are still ahead of him and his proven run-scoring ability will add even more strength to our current group of players," said Stewart.

"I look forward to watching him score big runs again in a Surrey shirt and it's great for the club to have 'one of our own' back with us."

Sibley hit 777 runs in 14 Championship matches for the Bears when they won promotion from Division Two back to the top flight in 2018.

He then had his best season in 2019 when he was the country's top scorer with 1,324 runs in 13 matches to help earn him his first England call, on tour in New Zealand in the November.

He made 10 red-ball appearances for the Bears last summer as they pulled off a County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy double.

Warwickshire have already signed Worcestershire all-rounder Ed Barnard for next season - and have also reportedly served notice of their plans to bring in his Pears colleague Moeen Ali, as well as Lancashire and England paceman Saqib Mahmood.

The Bears also have two other players out of contract at the end of this season, injury-plagued England paceman Olly Stone and limited-over specialist Adam Hose.

Sibley's county career in numbers

County Championship:

Surrey - 1,533 runs in 30 matches (average 34.06); Warwickshire - 3,421 runs in 52 matches (average 44.42)

T20 Blast:

Surrey - 388 runs in 12 innings (average 35.27); Birmingham Bears - 471 runs in 10 innings (average 26.16)

One-Day Cup:

Surrey - 164 runs in 12 innings (average 20.50); Warwickshire - 252 runs in 10 innings (average 25.20)