KENT and England all-rounder Mark Ealham has signed a new contract that will keep him at St Lawrence for the next two seasons. At the age of 32, Ealham will now hope to recapture the form that helped him win eight Test caps and led to 60 one-day international appearances - the most by any Kent player for England.

Ealham has finally put pen to paper after three-months of negotiation, completing the county’s bid re-sign their entire league-winning squad from last season, while also adding former Middlesex seamer Jamie Hewitt to the party.

Kent chief executive Paul Millman said: “We have now completed the winter ritual. The objective all the way along was to retain the squad that was successful last season and, if possible, build on that.

“I’m happy that has been achieved, though the time scale for negotiations will vary from player to player.”

Ashford-born Ealham, looking ahead to his 17th season as a Kent player, said: "It’s a positive that I’ve signed, and a positive that I want to play cricket at Kent. What I want now is to concentrate on my game and learn to enjoy it again.

“I want to focus on my cricket from here on in because I have been disappointed with my own form over the last couple of years. As vice-captain I have been distracted by management issues and disappointed by some of the cricketing decisions the club have made and have perhaps allowed those things to affect my cricket.

“But now I want to get on with playing because I know from experience that if I’m performing well the team are doing well too.

He added: “For that reason I have asked not to be considered for the vice-captaincy alongside Matthew Fleming because I think that’s best for the team.

“For the good of the side it’s better Mark Ealham concentrates on improving his own game and better for the club to find a new, perhaps younger captain/vice-captaincy partnership that can move the club forward for years to come.”