The Gloucestershire Cricket Board (GCB) has announced its 2017 summer county and district age group squads.

The boys’ squads (under-10 to under-17) have been drawn from 35 clubs while the girls’ squads (under-11s, 13s, 15s and 17s) are made up of players from 25 clubs.

On the boys’ side, Dumbleton lead the way with 11 players followed by Cheltenham and Winterbourne (9 each), Bristol YMCA (7) and Frocester (6).

Frenchay have supplied 14 players to the county girls’ squads, with Dumbleton (9) and Charlton Kings (6) also well represented.

Gloucestershire head of talent pathway Tim Hancock said: “Congratulations to all the players who have been rewarded for their hard work during the winter. It is great to see players coming from such a wide spread of clubs and we are looking forward to a successful summer.”

The county age group programme has gone through a number of changes this year with the boys’ under-15s and girls’ under-13s, under-15s and under-17s all playing in coloured clothing for the first time. Another change will see the under-17 boys being allowed to field three under-18s in each of their matches.

As in previous years the boys’ under-14, 15 and 17 teams and the girls’ under 13, 15 and 17 teams will all compete in ECB competitions.

The boys’ district squads have also been named. They include four district sides – Bristol, Gloucester and Forest, Cheltenham and Cotswolds, and Stroud and South Gloucestershire – at under-11, 12 and 13. However, at under-14 and under-15 level the previous four team district competition has been scrapped in favour of running a county development team made up of the best players outside the main squad.

Hancock said: “The aim is that by replacing the district system with a development squad we can provide more competitive cricket for our players outside the county squad and lessen the gap between the county squads and the level below.”

The development squads will play against other “B teams” from other counties.

For a full list of the players selected, visit:
http://www.gloucestershirecricketboard.com/county-district-summer-squads-announced/