Lancashire duo Tom Aspinwall and Matthew Hurst sign rookie contracts

Both Aspinwall, an allrounder, and wicketkeeper-batter Hurst are both England Under-19 internationals

Lancashire youngsters Tom Aspinwall and Matthew Hurst have signed rookie contracts with the club.

Aspinwall, an allrounder who bowls medium pace, was a key figure for England at the Under-19s World Cup earlier this year, taking seven wickets across the tournament. In total, the 18-year-old has 18 caps for the England age-group side, including taking six wickets against Sri Lanka U19 in his only youth Test appearance to date.

He has featured for Lancashire's 2nd XI three times in this season's 2nd XI Championship, scoring 21 runs and taking two wickets.

Wicketkeeper-batter Hurst, meanwhile, has played three matches for England U19s in 2022, scoring a century in the youth Test against Sri Lanka in Derby.

^{The duo will hope to emulate the rise of fellow youngster George Bell, who has featured in all formats for Lancashire this season [Clive Brunskill/Getty Images]}

In four 2nd XI Championship outings this season, Hurst has scored 224 runs, including a high score of 101 against Leicestershire and two half-centuries.

Director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, said: "Tom and Matthew are a pair of really exciting young talents and we are pleased to offer them their first rookie contracts.

"They have performed consistently at a high standard in both our Second XI and for England Under 19s during the last 12 months and they are fully deserving of this opportunity.

"Tom and Matthew follow in the footsteps of George Bell and Josh Boyden, who have signed rookie contracts in the last year, and we look forward to tracking their progress during the winter and into next summer."