A PROMISING young cricketer has been given new sponsorship to help see him through his sporting development.

North-East construction recruitment specialist Protech Human Resourcing is backing Ross Kirtley.

Fourteen-year-old Ross is a rising bowling star and has already been selected for Durham County Cricket's under-14s, having progressed from the Castle Eden side he helped to win the Durham Coast League title.

This season, Ross has played 15 matches for Durham, taking 14 wickets and, despite batting at the lower end of the order, has notched up four not-outs.

Ross is to jet off to Dubai at the beginning of December to represent Durham at the Insportz Tournament, competing against another seven sides from all over the cricketing world.

Director of Protech Human Resourcing Kevin Kinnon said: "Ross has done extremely well this year and we jumped at the chance to sponsor him.

"Despite his young age, he's shown a maturity in his cricket that will hopefully take him a long way in the game.''

He added: "We all hope this is the start of a very promising spell in the sport, following in the footsteps of others that may ultimately lead him to the England team.''