The Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton has certainly been a very busy place to be over the last few days, with cricketers of all ages making use of the first class facilities that are available.

Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding told me: "Being the first week of the Easter holidays everyday we had almost one hundred youngsters at the centre, across three age groups, 6-9,10-13 and 14-16 year olds all being put through their paces by our team of coaches."

On Saturday the Centre of Excellence hosted the Junior Sabres bash, which attracted over one hundred and twenty youngsters, whilst this coming week E.C.B. National Coach Keith Tomlins will be running a course for the E.C.B. Academy for selected young players across the South West.

Starting on May 13th the very popular Somerset County Cricket Club Skills Awards, which are sponsored by the Birmingham Midshires Financial Services will be on offer again.

The scheme ran before Christmas last year from October and December and was very well received, so a large amount of interest is expected.

For the 6-9 year old age group the sessions will be on a Monday evening between 6 pm and 9 pm, and for 10-13 year olds the sessions will take place on a Tuesday between 6 pm and 8 pm.

Andrew Moulding told me: "The Birmingham Midshires Awards Scheme has been extremely popular with young cricketers who can achieve skills awards at five different levels."

Any young cricketers who want to find out more about the Birmingham Midshires Cricket Skills Award Scheme should contact Guy Wolfenden at the Centre of Excellence, telephone number 01823 352266, as soon as possible.

© SOMERSET