Women included by MCC YC

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Eighteen of the country’s most promising players have been signed up to the MCC Young Cricketers squad for 2008, including two current England women internationals – all-rounder Lynsey Askew and off-spinner Charlie Russell.

In total, five women and 13 men will live, sleep and breathe cricket at Lord’s next season under the tutelage of Clive Radley, MCC’s head coach since 1991.

The men, captained by Mark Tomsett, will compete in ECB’s second XI competitions and the women will represent the club against a variety of counties and the visiting international tourists India, in 2008.

With recent alumni including international cricketers Darren Sammy (West Indies), Hamish Marshall (New Zealand) and Nicola Shaw (England), the roll-call of past MCC Young Cricketers is impressive - as the England women’s captain, Charlotte Edwards, points out:

“The MCC Young Cricketers programme has long been noted as a fantastic development model for some of the most talented players around. I’m delighted that these five girls will be given the opportunity to concentrate on their game in the best cricket environment in the world.

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"The training and coaching programme they will experience will take their game to the next level, which can only be good for the England women’s team in the future.”

Speaking about his 2008 squad, Radley said: “We’re very pleased with our signings for next season. With two quality coaches in Mark Wright [men] and Alan Duncan [women], we expect to see good performances from all our players. Hopefully we can repeat the successes of 2007 where we challenged for honours and saw four of our squad join the professional county ranks.

He continued: “It’s good to see five women on our books, all of whom have either represented their country already or have ambitions to do so. Our aim, as it is with the men, is to encourage them to make the most of their talents.”

Two of the new male Young Cricketer recruits – batsman Jack Cooper and all-rounder Rob Woodman - were recommended to MCC by Brian Rose, director of cricket at Somerset CCC.

He spoke about his county’s increasingly strong links to Lord’s: “After such a successful season in 2007, we’re in the fortunate position of having a quality squad with a lot of depth to it.

"We see the huge potential that Jack and Rob possess and think the best way for them to develop their game at this time is by training and playing at Lord’s, with all the facilities that the MCC Young Cricketers programme provides.

"It is our hope that they’ll come back to the county as improved players who can challenge for a place in our first team.”

The MCC Young Cricketers squad will gather at Lord’s at the end of March 2008 and will undertake a ‘traditional’ English pre-season fitness and training regime. This will involve use of old and new methods, from the dreaded bleep test and cross country runs to state-of-the-art Hawk-Eye and video analysis facilities in the MCC indoor cricket school.

MCC Young Cricketers squad:

Men:
Mark Tomsett (Sussex, Captain)
Luke Bevan (Berkshire)
Jack Cooper (Somerset)
Ned Eckersley (Middlesex)
Kyle Hodnett (South Africa)
Lee Hodgson (Durham)
Charl Malan (South Africa)
Jonathon Miles (Lincolnshire)
Luke Proctor (Lancashire)
Stuart Ransley (Hampshire)
Faisal Shahid (Worcestershire)
James Tinknell (Cumbria)
Rob Woodman (Somerset)

Women:
Lynsey Askew (Kent)
Hannah Burr (Berkshire)
Stephanie Davies (Somerset)
Jenny Halstead (Cheshire)
Charlie Russell (Sussex)