BURY'S Cricket Development Group led the way when it came to producing county players last year with nine boys and four girls from the borough picked for Lancashire.

Only Salford could match their success out of the county's 23 districts.

Evan Williams and Callum Hunter (both Greenmount) were picked for Lancashire Under-11s, while JJ Fielding (Ramsbottom) and Samuel Rhodes (Walshaw) made the U12s squad.

Chris Round and Owen Collinge (both Ramsbottom) represented the U13s, Nicholas Round and Will Turner (both Ramsbottom) were in the U14s and Tom Heaton (Greenmount), Bradley Fielding (Ramsbottom) Raihan Udwadia (Norden) played for the U15s, while Raihan was also selected for the county's Elite Player Programme.

The region's top girls were not to be outdone, with Woodbank trio Danielle Collins, Isobel Jemmott and Kate Schofield and Greenmount's Sophie Heaton also picked to represent the Red Rose in different age groups.

Bury Cricket Club juniors coach Paul Belston, who helps run the district set-up along with fellow coaches John Stevens, of Greenmount, and John Steele, of Ramsbottom, believes the county recognition is a direct result of the borough's approach to junior cricket development.

"We strongly believe in doing things the right way, bringing players through on the correct pathway – from club to district to county," said Belston, who along with Stevens, has been recruited to oversee the new Greater Manchester Cricket League's U12s inter-league squad.

"It works because we have the support of every club in the borough.

"Players have to come up through the ranks at their individual clubs to earn trials for the district set-up and from there they have to earn the right to be put forward for county trials.

"I think Lancashire trust in the system we have put in place, which is borne out by the number of players that have made it into the county set-up."

A table produced by Lancashire Cricket Board showed no other district had three players in the Lancashire boys' U15s side, with Ribble Valley the only other district to have two represented at that level.

Out of the 81 boys picked for the county across all age groups – from U10s to U15s – Bury and Salford came top of the table with nine, while Wigan had seven and Bolton, Burnley and Ribble Valley had five.

That individual success translated into team domination.

As Belston explained, Bury District, which runs three teams at U11s, U13s and U15s, has proved hard to beat over the past two years.

"Our Under-11s, Under-13s and Under-15s have won their respective District Cup programmes for the last two years, such as the prestigious Bob Hurst Rosebowl and Hacking Cups," added Belston.

"It just proves the standard of cricket being played by juniors in Bury is very high, which means the clubs and district must be developing them in the right way, especially as we also preach the 'spirit of cricket' both on and off the field.

"I know we have benefited from having young lads make it into the county set-up because their team-mates have seen what is possible and that has spurred them on even more.

"Those who don’t make it to Lancashire are still talented cricketers and enjoy everything district cricket brings.

"I think another thing to be proud of as a district is that it is run by volunteers.

"I know some districts have employed full-time coaching staff to help bring the players through, so to do this with dedicated volunteers I think is all the more reason to be proud of what the boys and girls have achieved."

As well as those competing at full county level, a number of other district players also participated in the Lancashire county development squads and Greater Manchester Cricket Festival. They included Matt Donnelly (Ramsbottom), Tom Robinson, Jack Doyle and Aaryman Roy (all of Prestwich), Tom Partington and Lleyton Belston (Bury), Oliver Pilkington and Joshua Rhodes (Walshaw).

Other emerging players via the district set-up include Josh Ahern (Prestwich), Dan Stevens and Owen Halstead (Greenmount) and Joe Spencer (Bury).