Surrey Invest in Their Youth
Published 13 October 2008
Surrey CCC has invested in their youngsters by offering five of their Academy Graduates contracts for the 2009 season and beyond.
Matthew Spriegel, Chris Murtagh, Laurie Evans, Stuart Meaker and Arun Harinath, all past members of the Club’s successful Pemberton Greenish Academy programme, have all been retained for next season and are expected to play a big part in the Club’s future.
Spriegel (21), Evans (20), Stuart Meaker (19) and Harinath (21) have all agreed two year deals while Murtagh (23) has signed for a further year.
Three of the five players - Spriegel, Meaker and Murtagh - have already made their first-class debuts with the Club, while the remaining two have been staking their claims with some consistent performances for the Second Eleven.
Spriegel, who probably had the most successful summer out of the five, made his debut back in May against Somerset. He played in nine LV County Championship matches for Surrey with his breakthrough performance coming against Nottinghamshire where he made 51 batting in the middle order. He also put in some handy all-round performances in One-Day cricket.
Academy Director, Gareth Townsend said: “Though we have endured a disappointing season, the positive progress of Jade Dernbach and Matthew Spriegel in the first team this year highlights the quality players that are emerging from the PG academy programme. The announcement by the Club in offering these contracts to our young players is further testament to the faith that Surrey are showing in home grown players.
"It is without doubt that players such as Dernbach, Spriegel, Stuart Meaker, Arun Harinath, Chris Murtagh, Laurie Evans and Simon King have worked hard on their cricket in the pursuit of forging a successful career with the Club, and I have confidence that these players will be an integral part of Surrey's future success.”
Newly appointed Managing Director of Surrey Cricket, Gus Mackay added: “We’re looking to build a very strong squad for next season and these youngsters are a key part of our rebuilding process as well as being an extremely important part of our Club’s long term plans.”
To hear more thoughts from Pemberton Greenish Academy Director Gareth Townsend click here to view an interview he recently gave to Surrey TV.
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