Pupils from Hartlepool school show off their cricket skills at Emirates Riverside

Students from Dyke House Sports and Technology College are taking part in sessions at the Emirates Riverside.

The youngsters have joined pupils from fellow Northern Education Trust school Thorp Academy, in Ryton, for a series of visits.

Both schools offer sports scholarship programmes and have been sharing sessions led by Durham’s academy manager John Windows and assistant James Lowe.

There will be 12 sessions held at Durham from now through until July at which students will get a flavour of what it is like to be a first-class cricketer.

Danny Evans, who oversees the sport scholarships at Thorp and Dyke House, said: “We have identified talented potential cricketers at the two schools and invited them to train at Durham’s world class facility, the Emirates Durham.

“The sessions will include coaching from John Windows and James Lowe, a tour of the facilities and they will meet some of Durham’s professional players.

“At the first session they worked alongside Durham’s academy and it was a great insight for our students to see the standards they need to reach if this avenue is to be their aim.

“The students will work in different areas of the indoor and outdoor facility where international teams play throughout the season. They will be in the nets and use bowling machines, with the aim to supplement the coaching they already receive at local cricket clubs.”

The Elite Performer Programme at Thorp Academy and the Elite Development Squad at Dyke House Sports and Technology College aims to provide scholars with the necessary information and opportunities to help them fulfil their potential both in a sporting sense and academically.