Worcestershire’s Under-17 side will again be competing in the ECB County Championship three-day and 50 over competitions in 2019.
The County will do battle with Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Devon.
The 50 over competition group matches will be staged in May with four matches in five days.
The three-day qualifiers will take centre stage for the Under-17s throughout July before their trip to Ireland (see Academy fixtures story).
It gives players opportunities to play and become accustomed to the longer format of the game and the skills required.
Worcestershire CCC Academy Coach Elliot Wilson says the two tournaments are ideal exposure for players with the potential to play Second Eleven cricket further down the line.
He said: “We competed in most of our games last year. Somerset were the outstanding side in our group in the three-day format and they quite rightly qualified for the semi-finals.
“With the philosophy of the club, and a lot of our Under-17 and Under-19 players regularly playing second team cricket, we tend not to have our ‘A’ game side available for Under-17 games.
“But I’m quite happy with that because it gives the next group of guys, who we think might be playing second team cricket in 18 months-two years time, opportunities to be exposed to three-day cricket.
“Again we look forward to four good three-day games and four 50 over games against Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Devon.”
WORCESTERSHIRE UNDER-17S
MAY
26 Somerset (ECB 50 OVER) – HOME
28 Gloucestershire (ECB 50 OVER) – AWAY
29 Devon (ECB 50 OVER) – HOME
30 Hampshire (ECB 50 OVER) – AWAY
—
JULY
8,9.10 Gloucestershire (ECB THREE-DAY) – AWAY
15, 16, 17 Devon (ECB THREE DAY) – HOME
22, 23, 24 Hampshire (ECB THREE DAY) – AWAY
29, 30, 31 Somerset (ECB THREE DAY) – HOME
—
AUGUST
4,5,6,7,8 Ireland Under-17s – DUBLIN
