MCC Young Cricketers: 2010

Date released: 3 February 2010

MCC Head Coach, Mark Alleyne MCC Head Coach Mark Alleyne has announced the MCC Young Cricketers (YCs) who will make Lord’s their home in 2010.

The thirteen-strong men’s list includes eight who were invited back after impressing Alleyne whilst on the scheme in 2009.

The returning YCs are: Ned Eckersley (who finished top of the YCs’ batting averages at 41.90 in the Second Eleven Championship in 2009); opening bat Chris Baugh; wicketkeeper Daniel Blacktopp; leg-spinner Gaurav Dhar; all-rounder (and leading YC wicket-taker in 2009) Glenn Querl; batsman Ian Cockbain; and quick bowlers Andrew Clarke and James Lever.

Cockbain & Eckersley were picked for England 12th man duties Their new team-mates will be Paul Muchall, Tom Lewis, Kieran Garside, Andrew Balbirnie and Jason Dawes.

Muchall, brother of Durham batsman Gordon, made a strong impression in the Second Eleven Championship for Durham in 2009, averaging 78.40. Lewis is a left-handed top-order batsman from Warwickshire.

Muchall and Lewis will be flying out to Argentina on 2 February for a month to help the national team - now coached by MCC Playing Member Toby Bailey - prepare for the ICC Global Division Four tournament and to play club cricket and coach.

Balbirnie captained the Ireland under-19 side at the recent ICC World Cup in New Zealand and is a top order batsman and off-spinner.

Fast bowler Garside played for Leicestershire II in 2009, taking 15 wickets in the Second Eleven Championship, and Jamaican quick Jason Dawes comes with a recommendation from former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams.

YC Women

The YC Women will be boosted in 2010 by a new scholarship scheme which will bring three school-age cricketers - Dee Tress (Kent), Hannah Phelps (Sussex) and Alice MacLeod (Berkshire) - to Lord’s during the summer holidays.

They will join the six full-time YC Women - Danielle Wyatt, Charlie Russell, Natasha Miles, Georgia Elwiss, Fran Wilson and Heather Knight - to train under coach Alan Duncan.

YC 'alumni' Caroline Atkins Wyatt, an off-spinner, will tour India with England alongside former YCs Caroline Atkins, Nicky Shaw and Beth Morgan in February.

The Women YCs scheme started in 2003, and was the first anywhere in the world to pay women solely for playing cricket.

The squads will travel to Guernsey for a pre-season joint training camp between 4 - 8 April.