It is with great delight that Sunrisers can announce the expansion of the Emerging Player Programme (EPP) into three new hubs around the region.
Culford School (Suffolk), Felsted School (Essex), and William Perkin School (Middlesex) have all come on board with Sunrisers’ EPP vision, and all provide excellent high performance facilities which will allow the players have the best opportunities to progress.
Twenty-eight players have been invited onto the EPP winter programme, with every County Board in the region getting representation, which is testament to the work that they have been doing with their young cricketers.
The players were observed and assessed throughout the summer, and were invited to attend the end of season Sunrisers Smash festivals days at Felsted during August where they were given the opportunity to play four days of cricket within the EPP environment.
This year’s intake sees 44 young cricketers selected across both Academy and EPP squads, with all eight partnering County Boards having at least three representatives in the programmes.
County Academy (15) EPP (28) Total
Essex 3 7 10
Middlesex 4 4 8
Cambridgeshire 1 7 8
Northamptonshire 1 2 3
Hertfordshire 2 1 3
Cricket East 0 3 3
Norfolk 2 1 3
Suffolk 1 2 3
Other 1 1 2
Luke Pomfret, Sunrisers Senior Regional Talent Manager, said:
“After a robust observation process in the past few weeks, we have been able to identify 44 really talented young cricketers from across the region to be part of our programmes this winter.
We are excited to begin our partnerships with three state of the art schools across the region as EPP Hubs. A lot of work has gone into enhancing the programme and being one of the leading teams in this side of the game, and it’s encouraging to give so many young female athletes the opportunity to improve their game with us. There is a real diverse range of skills, talent and people within the cohort and we are incredibly proud to have every County board from our region represented.
To have four EPP players graduating to the Academy has shown the strength of their games, and that the programme that we have had in place is really successful, so to be able to grow that is amazing. Having three different locations will allow the players, and their families, the chance to cut down their travel time significantly, which will take a lot of stresses away whilst allowing them to keep playing cricket alongside their school work.
We are confident that the environment will allow the players to thrive and develop, both as cricketers and as people, with a busy winter schedule ahead of the summer.”
The 28 players on the Emerging Player Programme will be:
Hira Awan – Essex
Prisha Bedi – Essex
May Busher – Cambridgeshire
Abbi Butcher - Cricket East
Sally Chapman – Essex
Hollie Dring Richardson – Essex
Emma Gibbs – Northamptonshire
Siri Gorantla – Cambridgeshire
Lulu Harding – Cambridgeshire
Freya Houlden – Cambridgeshire
Georgia Irving – Middlesex
Bella Johnson – Essex
Eve Joseph – Essex
Sophia Mitchell – Essex
Rachana Naidu – Middlesex
Imogen Papworth-Heidel – Northamptonshire
Sarah Pearson – Middlesex
Mabel Reid – Hertfordshire
Eva Sanderson – Cambridgeshire
Sophie Singer – Suffolk
Hannah Stapleton – Middlesex
Hannah Taylor-Yeates – Middlesex
Clara Thakar – Cricket East
Emma Thompson – Norfolk
Petra Tweedy – Suffolk
Madeline Welham – Cambridgeshire
Olivia Welham – Cambridgeshire
Anabelle Woodward – Cricket East