Glamorgan captain Northeast to rejoin Kent

Sam Northeast holds both Glamorgan's record highest score and the best first-class knock at Lord's

Glamorgan's County Championship captain Sam Northeast is to leave the club at the end of the season to rejoin Kent on a two-year contract, with the option of a third year.

The 35-year-old has been at Glamorgan for four seasons, leading them in the four-day format in the past two and steering them to the brink of promotion to Division One in the current campaign.

Family reasons are largely behind his decision, since Northeast has retained his home in Kent and now has two young children.

"It was a tough decision, one I took a long time to make," Northeast said.

"We've just had another baby and I knew I wouldn't be able to give my all to Glamorgan next year. I'd constantly be back on the road, which wouldn't be fair on my family, the club and myself to a certain degree."

The Ashford-born right-hander is one of seven Kent cricketers to have scored a century for the county in all formats and was appointed club captain in 2015 during his first spell with them.

He skippered Kent on 134 occasions before joining Hampshire in February 2018 after 11 seasons at Canterbury.

Northeast then played for Hampshire for three-and-a-half seasons, frequently standing in as captain, before leaving mid-season in 2021 and spending brief spells with Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.

He was snapped up by Glamorgan on a three-year deal and quickly hit the headlines by making the club's highest ever score of 410 not out away to Leicestershire in 2022.

Northeast said: "I'm delighted to be returning home to Kent next season.

"I believe I still have a great deal to contribute across all formats and while I've enjoyed my time away, I know that coming back to Canterbury is the right decision at this stage of my career.

"As someone who grew up in the county, Kent has always been close to my heart. I always knew I would return to my boyhood club, and I'm proud to once again wear the White Horse."

As well as his Glamorgan record score, Northeast also made history at Lord's by hitting 335 not out against Middlesex in April 2024, beating the previous record first-class score at cricket headquarters by former England batter Graham Gooch.

Although better known for his Championship endeavours, Northeast topped the Glamorgan averages in both T20 Blast and One-Day Cup cricket in 2024, named player of the match in Glamorgan's win over Somerset in the One-Day Cup final.

But he did not feature in the 2025 Blast and made only two appearances in the One-Day Cup.

"It goes without saying that I've absolutely loved my time here... I found my passion for playing cricket again here," Northeast said.

"I've had four great years at Sophia Gardens and I'm very proud of what I've been able to achieve, both personally and with my team-mates."

With three matches left in the Championship, Northeast has 3,619 runs in 51 red-ball matches for Glamorgan with an average of more than 48.

Kiran Carlson has led the county in limited-overs cricket for five years, and also stood in during July's Championship win over Kent when Northeast was on paternity leave.