Northants announce launch of new girls' Emerging Players Programme at County Ground

The EPP will offer development opportunities for players who 'have, or could have the potential to play regional cricket, or to play for the club's new Tier 2 team, Steelbacks Women'.

The club says the introduction of the EPP is 'an important next step in the rapid development of women’s and girls’ cricket in Northamptonshire'.

The EPP will come into effect immediately, and a squad of 12 to 15 girls will be selected from the club's existing Under-13 to Under-18 age group teams, and will be based at The County Ground.

The players will have acess to the first-class training facilities at Wantage Road.

The club issued a statement about the EPP that read: "We’re confident it will help to: Create players who can transition into regional cricket and Steelbacks Women; Support all aspects of player development including technical, physical and wellbeing; Provide player access to expert resources that provide support in and outside of cricket; give players a better understanding of themselves, as cricketers and people."

During the winter months, the selected players will benefit from extended coaching sessions, strength and conditioning and specialist skills development.

In the summer the programme will continue to maintain individual player development plans, with regular squad training sessions to fit around the busy county pathway match schedule.

The programme will be led by Paul Harris, who is the current Northants head of girls’ pathway and is an experienced ECB Level 3 coach.

The squad will benefit from working with a number of specialist coaches, including representatives from the Trent Bridge-based Blaze coaching team, and be supported by the expert sports science and medical teams at Northants.

David Ripley, who was recently announced as the head coach of Steelbacks Women, will work closely with Harris.