Notts sign local fast bowler

Nottinghamshire have signed Luke Fletcher, a 19-year-old fast bowler from their second XI, on a one-year contract.

Fletcher, who stands at 6ft 6in, plays for Papplewick in the Nottinghamshire Premier League alongside the club's bowling coach, Phil DeFreitas, and was a regular for the county's second XI last season.

"Luke has worked very hard over the winter and has impressed all the coaching staff over the past 12 months," Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, said. "He's definitely someone we want to continue looking at over a longer period of time and will be expected to provide competition and pressure on the first-team bowlers.

"It's nice to have another local lad in the squad and I know how keen he is to make a career in cricket, and play for Notts."

Fletcher showed plenty of promise on Nottinghamshire's pre-season tour to South Africa in the winter, but he revealed that he had "never really taken cricket seriously up to last year".

"Last summer I was a bit star-struck when I was around the dressing room but having spent time with the players on pre-season, I now feel settled in and a full part of the squad," he added. "I can't wait for the season to start and I'm determined to push on from here for a first-team place before the end of the season."