Nottinghamshire Sign Academy Trio

Notts Sign Academy Trio

Nottinghamshire have signed three 18 year-olds from their Academy on two-year contracts.

©Nottinghamshire CCC

The Nottinghamshire Academy trio of Sam Kelsall, Brett Hutton and Sam Wood have all signed two-year professional contracts with the club.

All three have represented England at Under-19 level over the past couple of years and will be hopeful of securing a berth in this year’s Under-19 world cup.

Kelsall, an 18 year-old opening batsman from Stoke-on-Trent, made his first-class debut in 2011 in response to the county’s crisis at the top of the order but was dropped after a couple of poor scores, while all-rounders Hutton and Wood – both also 18 and born in Doncaster and Nottingham respectively - also made their debuts against the MCC and Lancashire.

Director of Cricket Mick Newell said of the announcement, “All three players showed some promise last season and it is pleasing to take players on to our professional staff who have been in our academy since they were 13 years old. It is a credit to our Academy Director Chris Tolley and the specialist coaches (Mike Hendrick, Paul Johnson and Kevin Paxton) that work with him that these players have made the transition.”

He also pointed out a couple of players for the future in Tom Rowe and Simon Webster saying, “It’s encouraging to see players at different age groups with strong attributes and Tom and Simon have already caught the eye at England Under 17 level.

“Developing more of our own players is a key element of our cricket strategy but we keep an eye on the entire player market and anyone that graduates from the Academy and signs professional terms has to do so on merit and not simply because they were born locally.”

© Cricket World 2011