The future is looking bright for a trio of up-and-coming young cricketers making their mark in the sport.

Luke and Teddy have both secured places on the Durham Cricket Academy this season, with Luke confirmed as Academy Captain.

Eloise, 16, has been selected for the Durham Cricket Emerging Player Programme (EPP), a structured pathway developing young female talent for Durham Women’s Cricket.

All three are sport and exercise science students at Bede Sixth Form College and train as part of the college’s Institute of Sport and Education (ISE).

“My ambition is, of course, to be offered a professional contract,” said Luke who has been playing cricket for as long as he can remember.

He has also just signed for Hartlepool Cricket Club and has been given opportunities to train with the Durham first team.

For him, this season feels like the one to truly prove his mettle.

“I’ve been playing cricket since I was about three,” said the 17-year-old from Wynyard who is following in his family’s footsteps. His granddad, dad and uncle all played for Durham, his uncle professionally and dad as a semi-professional.

Luke said: “I started at Norton Cricket Club going on to play for Cleveland County and progressing on to the Durham pathway.  I was given my first academy contract at 15.”

Growing up in the sport, he has seen firsthand that success doesn’t come easy in cricket, it takes hard work, commitment, fitness and resilience – all of which he is ready to give.

It’s an approach echoed by fellow Bede student Teddy who started playing for Durham when he was 12 and is now entering his second year on the academy.

Again, cricket runs in his family as his brother James has also risen through the ranks of the Durham Academy, going on to play for England Young Lions and now playing professionally for Durham.

Training most days of the week, Teddy explained that cricket takes physical and mental strength.

He said: “The game can be very long, and you need to concentrate and be switched on to every single ball. And, you need to have good all-over physical fitness.”

Like Luke he ultimately has his sights set on a professional contact. He added: “I felt privileged to be selected for Durham Academy and I know I need to work hard.”

Also putting in the legwork is Eloise who, after making it on to the Emerging Player Programme this season, hopes to make a push for the academy and beyond.

Bowled over by the sport, it has opened up a competitive spirit in her that is driving her to keep reaching for the next level.

“This is the main thing I want to do at the moment,” said the 16-year-old from Stockton.

With Durham women’s cricket awarded Tier 1 status by the England and Wales Cricket Board last year, bringing professional women’s cricket to the North-east, it looks like a case of right time and right place for Eloise.

Like Luke and Teddy, she has grown up in the sport with her dad, granddad, brother and mum all having played.

Starting at Stockton Cricket Club she has represented at county level under 15 and under 18.

Bede’s strategic manager of sport and enrichment Ian Hewitt said: “We are incredibly proud to see all the effort and hard work these students are putting into their performance and to see this recognised with places on the Durham Cricket pathway.

“All are showing fantastic potential, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds.”