Congratulations to young cricketers Ben Pattison and Josh Bell for receiving county call-ups.

Ben, a Year 8, has been handed a place on the Durham County Cricket Club Under-13s squad after impressing in trials.

The 13-year-old, formerly of Holy Trinity, also plays for Norton and enjoys his football with Marton Blues. His best return was four wickets for 13 runs for Cleveland against Cumbria last year.

Josh will be playing for Cleveland again this summer for the third year in a row. The Year 10 student, formerly of Eldon Grove, plays for Seaton Carew and is already up against adults in the thirds team.

The 14-year-old remembers hitting three 50s for Seaton and he quite fancies being a sports psychologist when he is older if he doesn’t end up playing cricket professionally.

Both are members of the Elite Development Squad at Dyke House.

Elite coordinator Rhys Morris said: “It’s a great achievement to have two of our sport scholars achieve county status with Durham and Cleveland.

“We are proud of their progress and we are keen to help them develop further, and we have recognised their achievements by moving Ben up a tier on the scheme.”