Derbyshire sign teenage batsman Wagstaff

Wagstaff, 17, has scored 597 runs this season for the club’s academy, including four fifties and a hundred

Derbyshire have signed batsman Mitch Wagstaff for the remainder of the Royal London Cup group stage.

Wagstaff, 17, has scored 597 runs this season for the club’s academy, including four fifties and a hundred.

He comes into Derbyshire’s squad for their 50-over clash with Glamorgan on Friday, having been selected earlier this week for the ECB Super Fours, featuring for the Midlands side.

Wagstaff said: “As a local lad and an academy player, this is the kind of opportunity you work so hard for and it’s really nice to know it’s led to something. We’ve got a great group in the academy, and there’s a few in the first team who we can look up to because they’ve made the same journey.

“Now it’s about getting my head down and trying to impress. I know it’ll be a challenge, but I think the best way to get better is to challenge yourself, so hopefully I can contribute to some wins for my club.”

The teenager has also excelled with his leg spin, claiming 26 wickets this season. In signing his deal, Wagstaff becomes the seventh current first team player to have come through Derbyshire’s academy, alongside Alex Hughes, Harvey Hosein, Sam Conners, Tom Wood, Nils Priestley and Nick Potts.

Derbyshire head of cricket Dave Houghton added: “There are a lot of talented prospects within our academy setup, but Mitch has been the standout player this season. We’re in close contact with Daryn Smit, so we know what’s going on with the youngsters at all times, and we’re really enthused by what we’ve heard and seen of Mitch.

“We have a small squad, we’ve lost players through injury and to The Hundred, but the positive is that we can give our young players a chance. Mitch will benefit from any opportunity he gets to face experienced players, and at just 17, it will be a big step up for him, but one we think he can handle.”