worcestershire ccc first team coach alex gidman believes jack haynes will reap the benefits of playing alongside a posse of experienced players at New Road.
haynes came into the side at the tail-end of last summer, initially opening on his county championship debut against northamptonshire and then batting at number four for the remaining three fixtures.
with the winter recruitment of jake libby and hamish rutherford alongside the likes of daryl mitchell, riki wessels and ben cox, the 18-year-old will have plenty of older heads to help him with his development.
gidman said: “we are naturally excited about jack. he is a mature young man and we know he is very talented.
“however, we have realistic expectation levels of him.
“we want him to enjoy his cricket and learn as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
“hopefully, with some experienced players around him, it should be an easier time for him to come in and learn his trade.”
“but, like anyone, he knows he will have top earn his place in the team and we expect a lot of competition for places with the signings that we’ve made.”
gidman also feels haynes will reap the benefits of playing for england in the icc under-19 world cup in south africa this winter.
he said: “short term, we’re all really excited for him to have that chance to represent the under-19s and enjoy the experience of a world cup.
“we’ve been fantastic at worcestershire at producing under-19 cricketers.
“i’m really looking forward to watching another one go through it now and have a great experience and i’m sure he will learn a huge amount.”
