Trio progress through the ranks at Oakham Cricket Club into Leicestershire pathway
Three talented young players who Oakham Cricket Club helped develop have taken the next steps in their promising careers.
Alex Green, Raiffe Headley and Devarsh Shah all came through the ranks at the Leicestershire League club.
The trio have now been selected for the boys' Academy squad and Emerging Players’ Programme (EPP) for the 2024 season at Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
They are part of a total of 14 players who will be working within the club's pathway setup across both groups, with six Academy scholars and eight EPP selections forming this year’s outfits.
Green is a six foot six inches fast bowler with the ability to generate significant pace and bounce.
He has been one of the stand-out performers in Leicestershire's Academy in recent seasons.
The 16-year-old's 52 wickets at 17.87 saw him rewarded with selection to participate in a duo of Young Lions 50-over warm-up fixtures – returning economical figures of 7.2-1-27-2 in the first match, before taking 3-35 the following day.
Green also registered his career-best figures of 6-42 during July's draw with Derbyshire in the ECB U18 County Championship.
Headley is the son of former England international Dean and is a right-arm fast bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways.
He took 14 wickets for the age groups at 26.29 in 2023, including seven at Under 18 level.
The 17-year-old – who has also played for Burghley Park - toured Dubai with the Pathway last February, claiming a further seven wickets.
Shah is among the eight EPP players taken on for the new season
All eight will train twice per week alongside the Academy throughout 2024, with the goal of earning a scholarship.
The hard work for the new season has been in full flow since early November with Leicestershire’s budding best aligning their training programme with the Foxes’ first team.
Jigar Naik, Leicestershire's head of talent pathway, said: "As a club, we've got a rich history of producing cricketers locally and for the international stage – and we're very excited by this group of players coming through.
"We aim to pass on the same message continuously and deliver the best education possible.
"The boys train like professionals, with the same focus on skills, fitness, psychology and nutrition – ensuring development and hopefully an eventual smooth transition to senior cricket.
"We’ve got a great structure in place now, which has staggered our intake across the Pathway's age groups and affords us more time to invest in players.
"Now, our coaching unit can plan longer term and develop our players over two to three years."
Oakham will again be playing in the top flight of the Leicestershire League this season with their Division Two competing in Division Four East.
