Cricketer heads for India

Seventeen year-old Norfolk and Great Witchingham batsman Sam Arthurton is heading abroad as he looks to broaden his cricketing horizons after a promising 2009 season.

Seventeen year-old Norfolk and Great Witchingham batsman Sam Arthurton is heading abroad as he looks to broaden his cricketing horizons after a promising 2009 season.

Arthurton has made significant progress in his first full year at the Graham Gooch Essex Cricket Academy after signing a contract at the end of 2008 and demonstrated his potential by hitting 150 in a second XI friendly against Glamorgan in September.

Now Arthurton, who plays for Great Witchingham, will be joining fellow academy students as well as four senior players on a tour to the High Performance centre in Bangalore, India in February.

Arthurton is looking forward to the trip and sees it as a great opportunity. He said: 'It's a chance to visit another country, with a new climate and culture. I hope to test myself whilst I'm out there.

'I had a pretty solid year. I worked hard and kept things simple. I had a good season with Witchingham and I felt whenever I played for Norfolk I always contributed.'

Arthurton was also a constant presence in Witchingham's first team and scored 630 runs in the East Anglian Premier League last season, including six half-centuries, at an average of 35.