Mark Pettini has agreed a three-year contract with Leicestershire after nearly 14 years with LV= County Championship Division Two rivals Essex.
Pettini made his Essex debut in 2001 and helped the county win the Friends Provident Trophy at Lord's in 2008 as captain, followed by promotion to Division One of the Championship in 2009.
Pettini scored nearly 8,000 first-class runs for Essex and told the club's website: " It was an incredibly hard decision to leave Essex, the place I have played my cricket since the age of 16.
"At this stage in my career the offer from Leicestershire of a three-year contract and particularly the chance to play regularly across all three formats was something I couldn't turn down as playing red-ball cricket is something I still have a very strong desire to do."
Pettini joins Neil Dexter and Paul Horton in making the move to Grace Road and he added on leicestershireccc.co.uk: "I'm extremely pleased to sign, Leicestershire have shown great faith in me and I'm excited to be a part of the squad.
"The vision that Wasim Khan and Andrew McDonald have for the club is extremely exciting and I'm already looking forward to next season."
Source: PA
