Joe Denly has rejoined home county Kent after securing a release from his contract with Middlesex.
The Canterbury-born batsman, a graduate of the Kent Cricket Academy, has been freed from his three-year deal 12 months early in order to return to the Spitfire Ground.
Denly struck 8,427 runs across all formats during his first spell at Kent, registering 17 hundreds and 40 half-centuries, and made his England limited-overs debuts in 2009.
However, the 28-year-old failed to replicate the form that saw him secure a high-profile move to Lord’s in the 2011/12 off-season.
Denly, who made his Kent debut aged 18, said: “It’s great to be coming home. As I said at the time, it was a difficult decision to leave Kent but I don’t regret the experience I had at Middlesex.
“I'm leaving a very good club with great people from the backroom staff, team and management and wish them all the very best, but now feels like a great time to return.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces still here and plenty of talent coming through from the Academy and I’m looking forward to helping them in any way I can and help build a successful future.”
Denly struggled to perform during his time at the home of cricket, managing just 3,144 runs in 94 first-team matches at an average of just under 30.
Last season he failed to secure a regular first-team place and only contributed 550 runs as Middlesex narrowly avoided relegation from the championship top flight on the final day at Emirates Old Trafford and struggled in the limited-overs formats.
Denly becomes the second player to leave the home of cricket in recent weeks following the departure of all-rounder Gareth Berg.
Middlesex managing director Angus Fraser added: "It is always disappointing when the signing of a good player and man fails to turn out as you hoped and, sadly, this has been the case with Joe.
“In the three seasons Joe has spent with Middlesex we have witnessed glimpses of what he is capable of producing but, frustratingly, these displays have not come around as often as everyone wanted.
"Joe's lack of consistency gave younger cricketers like Nick Gubbins and Ryan Higgins the chance to impress, which they did, thus reducing Joe's first XI opportunities.
8,427 - @joed1986 hit 8,427 runs in his first spell at @kentcricket across all formats, recording 17 tons and 40 half-centuries. Return.
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) October 20, 2014
“With Joe not getting regular first-team exposure, Kent made contact with us to ask whether we would consider allowing them to speak to him about returning to Canterbury.
“We discussed the matter with Joe and, having thought long and hard about the approach, realised that the move, and the greater opportunities and security it would offer Joe, was the right way forward.
"Joe leaves many good friends behind, he was an extremely popular member of the side. Joe leaves with everyone's best wishes and we all hope he finds the form we know he is capable of, except, of course, when he plays against Middlesex."
Denly links up with a youthful Kent side that struggled for consistency in 2014, finishing sixth in LV= County Championship Division Two, reaching the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-finals and failing to advance to the knockout stages of the NatWest T20 Blast.
Kent chairman of cricket Graham Johnson said: "I remember when Joe decided to leave the club we talked about his possible return to Kent. As a player, who had come through our development system all the way up to represent England, he has kept his Kent roots.
“That such a return has been possible says much about the potential of the club right now and is also, in no small measure, a tribute to the way two county clubs can work together for the betterment of the game as a whole.
“My thanks go out to Middlesex in what they have done to make this move possible. To get Joe back is great – he is an extremely talented player in all forms of the game who, at the age of 28, has many seasons to come at a time when his experience suggests his best years are ahead of him.”