GLOUCESTERSHIRE pace bowler Craig Miles has made the shortlist for the LV= Breakthrough Player Award.
He is one of six young cricketers in the running to win the award, which recognises emerging young talent in the domestic four-day game.
After spending a majority of last season recovering from the back he injured while training with the England development group at Loughborough, the 20-year-old is back to full fitness and enjoying his most successful campaign to date.
An ever-present in Gloucestershire’s four-day County Championship side this summer, Miles has claimed 40 wickets at 26.32 apiece in Division Two.
His new-found consistency has led to him being handed the new ball on a number of occasions and his performances have again brought him to the attention of the England set-up.
Miles will go up against Jack Leaning (Yorkshire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Tom Curran (Surrey), Luke Wood (Nottinghamshire) and Alex Davies (Lancashire) for the LV= award.
The shortlist was selected by an expert panel which included England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) performance director David Parsons, former England player and LV= ambassador Mark Butcher, as well as former Australian bowler and Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie.
In August, the panel will then select two wildcard picks to be added to the shortlist, giving any players who hit a good run of form a chance of winning the award.
The 2015 LV= CC Breakthrough Player will be decided by the public, who can vote for their winner at www.LV.com/cricket.
Not content with making an impact in the red-ball game alone, Miles has also broken into Gloucestershire’s NatWest T20 Blast side this season.
He will again be required to demonstrate his versatility when Gloucestershire put their dwindling qualification prospects on the line in a South Group contest against Surrey at the Kia Oval this evening.
Beaten in four of their last five outings in the short format, Gloucestershire cannot afford to lose if they are to maintain a realistic chance of achieving a top-four finish and a place in the quarter-finals.
Defeat at the hands of Sussex in Bristol last week was a bitter pill to swallow, especially as Gloucestershire appeared to have the game in the bag after posting an above-par total of 185 at the Bristol County Ground.
But one-day skipper Michael Klinger insists qualification is still a viable goal for a side that is experiencing a disappointing losing streak in both formats.
He said: “Things can change very quickly in T20 cricket. We know we have to improve and quickly, but we have shown at times this season that our dressing room possesses the skill-set required to win games.
“Win three of our last five games and it might be enough. Win four and we are in.”
After tackling Surrey tonight, Gloucestershire’s players will return to the West for a derby tussle against Somerset at Taunton on Friday.