Surrey have signed fast bowler Henry Crocombe from cash-strapped Sussex for the 2027 season.

The 24-year-old has taken 182 wickets in 113 matches across all formats for his boyhood county, and last month was called up to the England squad for the second Test against New Zealand.

Crocombe said he was leaving Sussex “with a heavy heart” but believed the move to Surrey “offers a new challenge and would benefit my own ambitions”.

And he added: “The club [Surrey] They have a rich history of success and are always the team to beat in all formats. “I’m looking forward to joining the team and working with the coaches to take my game to the next level.”

Crocombe is the first player departure announced since Sussex’s financial problems were revealed in January.

The club’s books are under tight control by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following losses of £1.3m in 2025, including operating under a salary cap for the next three years.

They also received point deductions in the County Championship, T20 Blast and One-Day Cup.

To get their finances under control, Sussex faces a significant cut to its playing budget at the end of the season and several players have expiring contracts.

Outgoing head coach Paul Farbrace recently told BBC Radio Sussex that the club had made offers to some of them, but eight high earners had been told they would not receive new deals.

Sussex have not revealed who those eight players are and it is unclear whether Crocombe, who has been at the club since the age of 12, is one of them or whether he turned down a new contract.

BBC Radio Sussex understands that wicketkeeper and club captain John Simpson, batsman Tom Clark, all-rounder Fynn Hudson-Prentice, bowler Danny Lamb and Scotland international Charlie Tear will also be out of contract at the end of the season.

On Crocombe’s departure, Farbrace admitted on the Sussex website:, external “This situation we find ourselves in is really difficult to accept and seeing our own players that the club has developed move on makes it a bitter pill to swallow.

“He [Crocombe] “He is a fantastic young man, who has developed into a top-class bowler and, through no fault of his own, finds himself in this difficult situation.”