Academy merged to form unified approach

Leicestershire County Cricket Club can announce that the Academy, pathway and Leicestershire Young Cricketers setup will be merged under the title of Leicestershire CCC Academy to form a unified approach.

The Leicestershire CCC Academy has been well established for a number of years and has provided a pathway for young talent to break through into the first team squad.

By the end of the 2020 season, seven contracted players in the Leicestershire first team squad had graduated from the Leicestershire Academy, they include, Sam Evans, Alex Evans, Harry Swindells, Lewis Hill, Ben Mike, Sam Bates and Nathan Bowley.

Previously the Academy setup has been known as various titles; Leicestershire Young Cricketers, Leicestershire Talent Pathway, EPP to name a few.

Leicestershire CCC can announce a formal update whereby all of the previous titles used to define the Academy will be brought under one overriding title of ‘Leicestershire County Cricket Club Academy’.

The teams within the Academy setup range from Under 11s to Under 18s and will all represent Leicestershire CCC as Academy players.

For players who show the potential of becoming a professional cricketer in the future, the Leicestershire Academy Management Team may offer players the opportunity to become Academy Scholars which can continue up until the player leaves the Under 18 squad.

The current Leicestershire Academy Scholars are Rehan Ahmed, Raheem Ahmed, Uday Modhwadia, Aryan Patel, Prahlad Odedra, Dylan Church, Max Law and Pip Jackson.

Leicestershire Head of Talent Pathway, Ali Maiden said; “What we desire is an Academy where players see every match and practice session as a fantastic opportunity and experience. We want our players to want to win and contribute to their team winning at all levels.

“We feel the changes made to the Academy are an important step as it removes the hierarchy attached to the EPP and the Academy. The changes are intended to remove some of the anxiety that we see from players and parents towards the EPP and Academy.

“We will be continuing to work with all of our Academy players so they understand that there are many routes into becoming a professional cricketer and that should be the ultimate goal.”

Leicestershire CCC CEO, Sean Jarvis said: “After reviewing the current setup we have at the club, it was clear that we needed to refresh the setup to make it clearer for all involved and to benefit the progression of the Academy players”.

All players and parents have been notified of the changes from the club.