Nottinghamshire's 18 year-old off-spinner Paul McMahon has signed a one-year contract to play for the county in 2002, following his performances in the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

It is his first professional contract and it will put him on the staff at Trent Bridge before he moves on to take a place at Oxford University in October where he will study for a law degree.

McMahon was one of the inaugural intake into the Nottinghamshire Academy last year. He will follow England Under-19 colleague Bilal Shafayat onto the playing staff. He plays club cricket for Wollaton in the Nottinghamshire Premier League, was educated at Trinity RC Comprehensive School in Nottingham.

McMahon said: "I'm absolutely delighted to be given this opportunity by Notts. The help and support I've had from the coaches at the club has been fantastic and I'm desperate to repay them out on the pitch.

"Opportunities are there for spinners at Notts this summer and it's up to me to do the hard work so I will be fully prepared to grasp my chance when it arises."

Nottinghamshire's cricket operations manager Mick Newell added: "Paul excelled in the 2nd XI last season and at every stage of representative cricket with Notts he has impressed those who have taken charge of the team.

"We are anticipating he could make a big impression this summer and after that we will work his cricket in around his studies at Oxford. We want Paul to put pressure on Stephen Randall, Kevin Pietersen and Usman Afzaal straight away in the battle for the number one spinner's slot."

Newell added: "He was acknowledged by the England team management as the best bowler and hardest working player on the tour and we expect great things from him on the club's pre-season overseas trip to South Africa later this month."

McMahon relies on a sound basic technique as the foundation of his success to date. He uses his height and a classical action to obtain good loop and genuine spin, allied to impressive control.

© CricInfo