Alice Bird has called being selected for the Somerset Emerging Players Programme a "privilege", writes Josh Thomas.

The 15-year-old only took up playing cricket four years ago and her first first full season saw her play for Somerset Under-13s.

Bird then went onto make her debut for Somerset Under-17s and then Somerset Women, aged 14, and she had gone on to make four appearances, before being selected for the programme.

“It’s a privilege and I didn’t expect it, because this year has been crazy with everything going on,” she said.

“It’s quite a shock to have it and it’s so nice. I’m just going to grab this opportunity.”

Bird first started playing the sport with father Paul, who played in all the age groups for Somerset and famously bowled out the great West Indies batsman Brian Lara when playing a List A match against Warwickshire in 1994, live on television.

And the teenager insists she couldn’t have got this far without his support, adding: “My dad has helped me so much, he’s spent hours with me, training really hard, and without him I wouldn’t be half the player. He has really helped me to succeed and grow.”

Despite Covid-19 affecting sport up and down the country, she will now look to join the scheme next year, and the pandemic hasn’t deterred her ambitions for the future as Bird dreams of playing for England and competing in major leagues, such as India and Australia.

But her short-term goal is to reach the regional set-up in the next couple of years, where she hopes to sign for Western Storm.

Another player who knows all about the team is Weston’s Lauren Filer.

“She is just awesome,” added Bird, “If you see her around the club she is very down to earth, you can go to speak to her and ask her for advice.

“She’s very nice and it’s nice to have someone like that because they have gone through challenges that you might go through and she’s a role model for me.”

Dad Paul insists Alice and her nine-year-old brother Harry, who has been called up to the Somerset Pathway Programme, have bright futures ahead of them.

“For both of them I’m really proud, they both want to be professional cricketers, even though I know hard it is,” he said.

“As much as I try and sort them out a bit, they both really want it and my wife and I will support them and try our best.

“They have worked so hard over the last couple of years and they are both on this exciting journey, which is great.”