Derbyshire CCC announce their intake of academy players

The group includes seven returning youngsters and two new recruits who will all work closely with academy director AJ Harris and the rest of Derbyshire CCC’s coaching staff. The selected players will spend the winter developing their all-round games and taking lifestyle advice before embarking on a summer of cricket with matches against fellow first-class county academies.

Graduates Will Davis and Harry White made first-class debuts for the county during the 2015 season. And along with Ben Slater, Alex Hughes, Tom Taylor, Tom Poynton, Matt Critchley, Harvey Hosein, Ben Cotton, Greg Cork and Tom Knight, that meant 11 academy players featured for Graeme Welch’s side.

Harris said: “Our programme is designed to create a smooth performance pathway from the academy and into the first-team squad.“

This year’s chosen nine are: Cameron Ball, Tom Ball, Ryan Bramwell, Archie Gleadall, Harry Killoran, Hamaiz Mahmood, Callum Parkinson, Robert Peat and George Sellers.

The academy will also continue its partnership with the University of Derby, which includes sponsorship of the county’s four-day shirt.