Ben Coad, aged 16, was one of just 41 junior players picked from across the county to join the Yorkshire Bank Community Cricket Talent Programme, a joint-initiative with Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) to discover the cricketing stars of tomorrow.

The fast bowler, who plays for Studley Royal Cricket Club and attends Thirsk High School, got to demonstrate some of his skills when the elite group practised in front of YCCC team-mates Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad.

skills

The programme, which aims to identify up to 150 talented youngsters in the county by 2012, gives junior players aged 11 to 17 an even greater chance of being spotted and having their skills developed at YCCC under the supervision of world class coaches, who include former players such as Steve Oldham, John Blain and Kevin Sharp.

intake

The first intake of junior players consists of 10 spin bowlers, 12 fast bowlers, 14 battsmen and five wicket keeping specialists who were selected after YCCC's network of coaches watched around 900 club and school matches throughout Yorkshire last season.

YCCC chief executive Stewart Regan said: "The club has for many years had a very successful academy, providing a pipeline of talented players coming through the system.

"This programme enables us to identify and work with young players at an even earlier age, which clearly bodes very well for the future."