BtB stories: Transfers with Jordan Thompson

A little over two weeks after the opening of county cricket’s ‘transfer window’, Yorkshire’s homegrown Jordan Thompson had been announced as a new signing for Warwickshire on a three-year all-format deal in a move that turned heads on the county circuit.

Known for his variations in T20 cricket and reliability in the red-ball game, the 29-year-old also recently completed a Diploma in Freelance Journalism at the British College of Journalism, so who better to detail his journey than the man himself.

If you were to tell me at the start of the 2025 season, that I would be leaving Yorkshire by the end of it, I would’ve laughed at you. But I guess that’s the naivety of professional sport and having the attitude that you always stay at your home club.

As I sit now, in November in Melbourne, five months after deciding to leave Yorkshire for Warwickshire, there are still so many things that need organising before I head back to the UK to meet my new colleagues and begin the 2026 season as a Bear. I need a place to live, I need to pack up my Leeds house, and I also need to play in two franchise tournaments in the UAE. It is a busy mix of visiting family, preparing for more cricket and organising life’s admin.

Yorkshire cricket has been a massive part of mine and my family’s life. From making my under 11s debut at the age of nine, right the way up to playing seven years of first team cricket. It is something that very nearly came to a halt at the age of 13, when I was offered a scholarship at Malvern College and a link up with Worcestershire CCC, however, this very quickly fell through as Yorkshire took it up with the ECB, the fact that Worcestershire were trying to poach three young players didn’t sit right with them.

I had to bide my time at Yorkshire as a young player coming through the academy, all-rounders and bowlers such as Tim Bresnan, Liam Plunkett, Jack Brooks, Will Rhodes, Ryan Sidebottom meant that the first team was very strong when I was in my late teens but I learnt a lot from those players and played a lot of 2nd XI cricket to prepare for what was to come.

After making my debut in T20 cricket in 2018 and four-day cricket in 2019, the 2020 Covid season was a real breakthrough for me where I averaged 46 with the bat and led the line with the most wickets, cementing an all-rounder spot for the years following.

Experiencing Blast Finals Day with Yorkshire was a highlight of my career with them, although it is something we all look back on as a missed opportunity, especially after scoring the highest total ever scored at a Finals Day.

The biggest highlight of them all though, was being 1st XI capped. Number 189 in over 160 years of history shows that it is not an easy feat to achieve and it was an emotional moment for me and my family to be presented with the full rose at Scarborough. I recently found my academy cap and 2nd XI cap, so all three of them now sit next to each other proudly and there is still a possibility that I could wear one of them again during my career.

Back to 2025, I knew my contract was coming into its final year and I also knew that Yorkshire were being on the cautious side financially due to past controversies and the fact that they were waiting for the sale of their Hundred team to the Sun Group. With this in mind, I wasn’t expecting for negotiations to be at the forefront of their mind as they probably thought it was going to be a pretty simple deal to get over the line, as did I.

Yorkshire’s first offer was presented to me in early February, prior to The Hundred draft. It was an offer I didn’t see as acceptable for the age and player I am so I turned it down but said we will talk more about it once The Hundred draft had taken place, this was to see if they were going to give the Superchargers a nudge to sign me and hope that there was a link forming there between the incoming Sunrisers and the Northern Superchargers. However, this didn’t happen, and I was signed by Southern Brave, a team that I enjoyed playing for, they have some fantastic players.

As the 2025 season flew by, as it always does, I was very much focused on the season and making sure we got off to the best start in our first year back in Division One. Contract talks weren’t at the forefront of my mind until we crept towards June, and I started to wonder why there weren’t any talks taking place. With June being professional crickets ‘transfer window’, this is where Warwickshire first made their move.

At 10am on 1 June, an email landed in my inbox from Warwickshire CCC, the first time I really felt that it was becoming a possibility, and up to that point, there was still nothing from Yorkshire. My agent and I went straight to Yorkshire and made them aware of the situation, but Warwickshire were very proactive, made it very clear that they wanted me to sign and provided me with a presentation outlining where they see me and the club going in the next three-five years. I was impressed with the detail and thought that was put into preparing this document and it got me thinking about how this opportunity could improve me as player and a person.

Discussions with my agent were frequent around this time and with me moving towards the age of 29-30, it was clear that my next county contract was probably going to be the main one of my career, financially. As an all-rounder, who plays all formats, franchise cricket around the world and at an age where I am coming into my peak, we strongly believed that my market value was way above where Yorkshire saw me and this unashamedly played a big part in my decision.

After conversations with my family and fiancée, they were very supportive about the situation and the opportunity that had been presented to me. The days after the contract offer from Warwickshire came through, there were various email threads and a swift negotiation to get the contract to where I wanted it to be, but it didn’t take long to come to an agreement. I had conversations with Yorkshire, via my agent, but it became clear to me that I was more than likely going to be moving on. Before I knew it, I was signing on the dotted line for Warwickshire, on Docusign, rather than in the flesh, and as soon as the email was sent back, it was a done deal.

It was a mixture of excitement and sadness when I made my final decision. I was leaving the club I have been affiliated since the age of nine, leaving a group of players who are some of my best friends, and I’m also leaving my hometown and family longer term which is probably the toughest thing. Telling my teammates I was leaving was hard and I’m not ashamed to say that I shed a tear! I made it clear to the Yorkshire management that I still wanted to play a big part in the 2025 season, and they were very appreciative of how I carried myself for the rest of the year.

However, the opportunity to sign for Warwickshire, play at Edgbaston and most importantly go there and challenge for trophies is a huge pull for me and I really can’t wait to meet up with the lads and form some new relationships. I think the transition will be pretty smooth, playing with some of the Bears lads around different competitions mean there are already some familiar faces in the changing room.

I’m looking forward to going back to Headingley and being on the other side and I’m expecting a little bit of flak from the crowd which will be good fun. I will always be proud of how I left it with the fans and members as well, I don’t think I had a bad word from them about the move, and I did say that there is unfinished business down the line!

But for now, it is time for a change, and I am hopeful I can have a big influence on a new group of people and a new team. Along with that, I still aspire to make it to international level, and a change of environment might help me in that journey.

Read the full magazine below:

Read the back catalogue of all 37 magazines.