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Ben Wilkinson to attend Darren Lehman Academy

Ben Wilkinson to attend Darren Lehman Academy

Eddie Gibbs4 Aug 2014 - 19:36
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https://www.glenrothescc.co.uk

Glenrothes CC and Scotland U17 Player of the Year will start his GAP year with the Australian cricket season in Adelaide.

Glenrothes CC is delighted to be able to announce that 1st XI player Ben Wilkinson has been selected to attend the prestigious Darren Lehman Cricket Academy (DLCA) in Adelaide this coming Winter.

Ben, who is Scotland’s current U17 Player of the Year; will head out to Australia at the end of the current Scottish cricket season and return ahead of the new Scottish season in March 2015. Ben has been selected as the 13th player of 16 in total for the DLCA 5 month scholarship programme.

GCC Operations Officer Kenny Crichton commented; "All at the club wish Ben the very best of luck during his time in Adelaide and we’ll look forward to following his progress via social media throughout the Winter. The club would also like to express our gratitude to both Kirkcaldy & Central Fife Sports Council and Kristin and Leslie of the Benzies Foundation in Edinburgh who have helped by sponsoring Ben’s trip.”

He continued; “The club are continually making strides to help our young players develop their full potential and are delighted to have been able to help Ben achieve his ambition to play cricket in Australia over the coming Winter. We’ll be releasing our plans for Winter training shortly along with details of how our new Indoor Cricket Centre will be used to help local players work on their technique once the current season ends”.

Ben Wilkinson said; “It was always my intention that my gap year would include some time playing cricket in Australia but thanks to the help and assistance from Glenrothes CC this cricketing dream has been transformed into an opportunity to attend the world’s leading cricket academy."

He continued; "Being a DLCA scholar I will be coached by the very best in the game and the experience and lessons learnt will I am sure help not only Glenrothes Cricket Club next season but will hopefully be of benefit in helping Scotland qualify for the next Under 19s World Cup in 2016."

Current Cricket Australia Head Coach Darren Lehman setup the DLCA in his home city of Adelaide, the academy is a world renowned centre of excellence and several players selected to attend the DLCA have graduated the academy have gone on to gain full international honours. These include England players Joe Root, Scott Borthwick, Alex Hales, Monty Panesar, Ajmal Shahzad, Samit Patel and Liam Plunkett. You can read more about the DLCA on their website at http://www.dlca.com.au/

Whilst attending the DLCA Ben will also be placed at club locally within Adelaide by the coaches at the DLCA where he'll play grade cricket.

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