Leicestershire have signed wicketkeeper Josh Blake from Surrey on a two-year deal.

The 28-year-old spent four years on the books at Surrey as a professional, a club he first joined at the age of nine and later worked at as a community coach for four years as he tried to earn his first contract.

He landed that deal in 2022, the same year he made his List A debut for the club, while it was not until 2024 that he made his first appearance in the County Championship.

Blake has signed for Leicestershire just a day after it was confirmed that experienced wicketkeeper Ben Cox is leaving the county, whose relegation from Division One is still subject to their appeal against a points deduction.

Blake said leaving Surrey was a “big decision”, but sees Leicestershire as a “new chapter” in a career that has featured time playing club cricket in the Surrey Championship as well as in Sydney Shires in Australia to prove himself.