YORKSHIRE have confirmed a cohort of eight players on rookie contracts for 2021, while a further 12 young cricketers are named as part of the academy or Emerging Player Programme.

Ben Birkhead, George Hill, Dominic Leech, Tom Loten, Josh Sullivan and James Wharton will continue their journey into professional cricket as rookies in 2021 and will be joined by academy graduates Matthew Revis and Harry Duke.

Rookie contracts are the bridge between the academy and the professional squad, with the players training and interacting with the first team.

With six of the 2021 cohort having played first team cricket in various forms this year, the stepping stone has proved to be an effective stage in the development of the players.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “We’ve got eight rookies going into next season and they’ve all got huge potential.

“Most of them have already played some first team cricket, so we’re very excited about the prospects we have with these young players.

“It’s probably fair to say that all the lads that have come into the first team haven’t looked out of place.

“There’s still work to do, absolutely, but they’ve all shown potential when they’ve played and that’s what gives us the optimism going forward.

“They are clearly not the finished articles, but they’ve shown that they are capable.

“It’s fantastic to have this group of young players who are keen to learn, and keen to have success with Yorkshire.”

The six players that will be in the academy are: Ed Booth, Will Luxton, James Mukherjee, Harry Sullivan, Yash Vagadia and Sam Wisniewski.

The six that will be part of the Emerging Players Programme are: Harry Allinson, George Booth, Ben Cliff, Dan Ford, Romir Singh and Matthew Weston.