Sussex County Cricket Club and Norwich School have launched a new partnership establishing a cricket academy which is hoped will benefit youngsters from around the region.
The academy was launched during the under-15 Norfolk Twenty20 schools finals day, hosted at Norwich School's Redmayne playing fields.
Sussex's academy director Carl Hopkinson and vice-captain Ben Brown ran the warm-up and giving the team talk to the Norwich School side in the build-up to their semi-final against Thorpe St Andrew.
The academy will be open to boys and girls aged between 10 and 16 from across the Norfolk area.
Sussex's director of cricket, Keith Greenfield, also attended the launch and said: 'The school is very ambitious and with the expertise and facilities it possesses, it is clear this will become a huge success and we are very excited about what the future holds for this partnership.'
Sussex CCC play in Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship, currently sitting in mid-table after winning three of their opening six games. Their squad includes England internationals Luke Wright, Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills, who was brought up in Brandon and is a Norwich City supporter.
Norwich School currently has links to Sussex through two former players. Teacher Rodney Bunting, who played first-class cricket for Sussex between 1988 and 1991, is assistant director of sport and Joe Gatting, who progressed through Sussex's academy and played as a professional at Hove between 2009 and 2013, was appointed cricket professional at the school last August.
'It's been a privilege to help set up a partnership between Norwich School and my former club Sussex CCC,' said Gatting, who plays cricket locally for Swardeston and is the nephew of former England captain Mike Gatting.
'A player pathway of this nature is unique to Norfolk and we look forward to working with the most promising cricketers within the region.'
Application forms and more information can be found at Norwich-School.org.uk or by emailing sussexcricketacademy@norwich-school.org.uk.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here