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Chris Dent has become the latest player to sign a new contract at home county Gloucestershire.
The 25-year-old has emulated team-mates Gareth Roderick and Tom Smith in committing his future to the Bristol County Ground outfit until the end of the 2018 campaign.
“Being a Bristol boy and this being the only club I’ve been at I am excited to stay here,” Dent, who played in Gloucestershire’s Royal London One-Day Cup-winning side in 2015, said.
“With the great bunch of lads we’ve got and winning a trophy last year there was never any thought of leaving.”
The opening batsman, a graduate of the Gloucestershire Academy, has scored over 6,000 runs since making his debut for the club in a List A match in 2009.
Dent surpassed the 1,000-run mark in first-class cricket for the second time in three seasons in 2015, hitting a career-best 268 in Gloucestershire’s final County Championship match of that year.
The former England Under-19 international is now hoping to replicate his four-day form in white-ball cricket.
“Having been here quite a while I need to step up and be one of the main players,” Dent, the second longest serving player at the club behind Hamish Marshall, said. “I am a senior player now and I need to take on that sort of role.
“I would like to perform in all forms of cricket. Last year I didn’t have a stand out season in white-ball cricket so hopefully I can improve on that and keep going well in the red ball stuff. “
Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson added: “After Gareth and Tom extending their contracts it’s great to have Chris staying for another three years.
“He showed some very good form in red-ball cricket last year and finished on a high with a double-century against Glamorgan. Hopefully going forward he can build on that and play a key role in white-ball cricket as well.
“Chris has a close affiliation with the club, having come through the academy here and it is great that he’s decided to extend his contract.”
Source: ECB