COLCHESTER'S Charlie Allison has signed a new rookie contract with Essex Cricket Clubย for the whole of the 2024 season.

The 18-year-old promising batsman, who played for Colchester and East Essex this season, has been rewarded after a fine breakthrough season for the county.

Allison made his competitive first-team debut against Lancashire in this season's Metro Bank One Day Cup.

He went on to score 254 runs at an average of 36.28, across the tournament's eight matches.

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Allison made his England Under-19 debut in a Youth Test against Australia following the 50-over competition, and top scored in the first innings of the match with 44.

Allison said: โ€œIt's great news. To get a summer contract, I was really happy with myself, but to perform and then get another, I'm over the moon.

"I just tried to take last year in my stride and play how I've always played, and I'm now really excited for the future."

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Essex head coach Anthony McGrath said: โ€œCharlie is a superb young player, and we were really happy to see him translate that significant potential that he has into a solid return of runs this summer.

โ€œEveryone in our dressing room speaks incredibly highly of him and the way he goes about his cricket, and weโ€™re looking forward to him being part of the group again in 2024.โ€

Essex Cricket Chief Executive Officer John Stephenson added: โ€œWe pride ourselves at Essex on our ability to bring high-quality young players through the pathway system, and Charlie is the latest example of that.

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โ€œWe are happy weโ€™ve been able to secure his immediate future now, giving him the best possible grounding to flourish once again in 2024, and we are all excited to see what he can do next summer.โ€ Meanwhile, Allison is one of three Essex players to be called up for the England Men Under-19 squad for next month's Youth ODI series, in India.

Allison has been called up for the under-19s, with Luc Benkenstein and Noah Thain also been named in the 17-player squad.

Allison is one of four new names from the group that played Australia under-19s in last month's five-match home Youth ODI Series.

The Quadrangular Series is to be played in Vijayawada, India from November 4-29 and will feature India U19s A, India U19s B and Bangladesh U19s.

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The series will provide the final competitive preparation for the Young Lions ahead of the 2024 ICC Under-19 Menโ€™s World Cup, which will be staged in Colombo, Sri Lanka from January 13 and February 4.

Selection for the 2024 ICC Under-19s Menโ€™s World Cup will be announced in December.

England Men Under-19s head coach Mike Yardy, said: โ€œTouring India at any level is challenging, which why it is so valuable to be able to expose our best young players to these experiences at Under-19 level.

โ€œWe expect both the India and Bangladesh Under-19 teams to be very strong, as India showed when they beat us in the final of the most recent ICC Under-19 World Cup last year.

โ€œSo this is a huge opportunity for the 17 players who have been selected, especially with the next U19 World Cup following this tour in January 2024.โ€

England Under-19 Menโ€™s squad: Ben McKinney (Durham, captain), Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire), Tazeem Ali (Warwickshire), Charlie Allison (Essex), Charlie Barnard (Lancashire), Luc Benkenstein (Essex), Jack Carney (Lancashire), Jaydn Denly (Kent), Eddie Jack (Hampshire), Dom Kelly (Hampshire), Mitch Killeen (Durham), JT Langridge (Somerset), Seb Morgan (Middlesex), Haydon Mustard (Durham), Hamza Shaikh (Warwickshire), Noah Thain (Essex), Theo Wylie (Warwickshire).