Donald signs contract extension

Derbyshire wicketkeeper-batter, Aneurin Donald, has signed a new deal, keeping him with the Club until the end of the 2028 season.  

Since joining Derbyshire in 2024, Donald has established himself as one of the biggest hitting batters in the county game, having made nine T20 half-centuries for the Falcons in 24 appearances.

In the 2025 Vitality Blast, Donald topped the table for sixes hit (31), strike-rate (216.9) and scores of 50 or more (six), while his 13-ball half-century against Yorkshire at Queen’s Park equalled the record for the fastest 50 in Vitality Blast history. His incredible strike-rate this year is the highest by any player who has scored more than 400 T20 runs in a calendar year.

While much of his success for Derbyshire has been in the white ball game, Donald has shown he can be an asset in the County Championship, having scored an entertaining half-century in the win over Kent in the final game of the 2025 season. He once shared the record for the fastest double-hundred in first-class cricket, having reached the milestone in just 123 balls in 2016.

Head of Cricket, Mickey Arthur, said: “In Nye, we have one of the most effective T20 batters in the world, he’s consistently given us a strong platform in the powerplay and this season he showed his ability to go on and make bigger scores.

“The next step for him is to turn more of those amazing innings into match-winning ones, but we know as a team we also need to capitalise better on the starts Nye gives us and that is something we will be working on for 2026. We’re also excited to see more of him in the longer formats, because he ended the season strongly.”

Donald added: “With Derbyshire, I’ve found a clear role and it’s helped me take my T20 game to the next level. I want to keep improving, I want to be a match-winner for us and help us to challenge for a trophy.

“I want to expand my game to all formats and be a player Mickey and Wayne can rely on in red ball cricket too, because we were so close to promotion and getting to Division One would mean so much to the whole Club and especially our Members.”

See Donald in 2026 with a Blast Pass!

2026 Super Early Bird Blast Passes are on sale now, with every Falcons home fixture included for just £89.

With a Blast Pass, you get access to all Falcons home fixtures, including the East Midlands Derby with Notts Outlaws and the T20 against Yorkshire, both of which sold out in 2025.

Buy or renew your Blast Pass now and get next summer sorted.