Competition trio receive England calls

Date: 30th September 2011

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Karl Brown, Simon Kerrigan and Stephen Parry get the call.

A mere fortnight after the conclusion of Lancashire's successful domestic season, Simon Kerrigan, Karl Brown and Stephen Parry now have another reason to celebrate after the Bridging Finance Solutions Liverpool Competition trio were called up to two of England's winter training programmes.

Kerrigan has been included in the 17-man England Performance Programme (EPP) and will attend a three-week training programme at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough in November followed by a training camp in India.

Brown and Parry are two of the 13 cricketers selected as potential England Performance Programme players and they will undertake a period of training at Loughborough followed by a three-week training camp in Colombo, Sri Lanka witha seven-week match-play element also in Sri Lanka.

ECB Performance Director, David Parsons, said: “The England Performance Programme provides an excellent opportunity for those players identified as having considerable talent to train together in an England environment throughout the winter and further develop as cricketers.

“The time spent at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough and in India and South Africa allows our national lead coaches to develop bespoke programmes for each member of the squad and work intensively with the players and to continue to assess their readiness to graduate to the full England side when the opportunity arises.

“This is an exciting group of young cricketers with all but three players selected for the England Performance Programme this winter having represented England Lions or England this year. We recognise the need to develop a pool of players who are all capable of playing key roles in international cricket when the need arises and this programme allows us to continue working with those identified as having the ability to perform at the highest level.

“The potential England Performance Programme allows us to work with a group of players who have shown considerable promise both in age group cricket and in county cricket. Batsmen and spin bowlers will have training blocks in Loughborough and Sri Lanka as well as a useful opportunity to develop their skills in sub-continental conditions."