Glam hand Carlson a long-term contract

TEENAGE batsman Kiran Carlson has signed a three-year contract extension with Glamorgan, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2020 season.

The talented academy product scored a career-best 191 in the penultimate game of the 2017 season and has been tipped for big things at the county.

A product of the Glamorgan academy, Carlson first burst onto the county scene in 2016 as an 18-year-old when he became the youngest player in English county first-class history to record a century and collect a five-wicket haul.

On his first-class debut he took 5/28 against Northamptonshire and just 17 days later hit an unbeaten 101 against Essex in Chelmsford as he also became Glamorgan’s youngest first-class centurion.

In 2017, Carlson established himself in the first team across all formats. He made his debut in T20 cricket, scored a maiden List A half-century against Somerset in the Royal London OneDay Cup, before he narrowly missed out on becoming the youngest Glamorgan batsman to score a double-hundred with that 191 against Gloucestershire.

He is now combining his studies at Cardiff University with cricket after starting a civil engineering course in October.

“It’s great to commit to Glamorgan for the next three years and nice to have that security and be able to concentrate on my game so I can look to progress to the next level over the coming seasons,” said Carlson, 19.

“It’s going to be a busy period in my life with cricket and university but I can’t wait to get stuck in and kick on.

“The hard work has already started and we can take a lot of positives from last season into next year.

“There’s a lot of young talent at the club. I’ve grown up playing age group cricket with quite a few of the boys so it’s nice for us to come together in a professional set-up and hopefully together we can bring success and silverware back to Wales.”

Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris added: “We are delighted Kiran has committed his future to Glamorgan by signing a three-year contract.

“Kiran is a fantastic talent who has not only gained valuable experience in the first team but has also already put in impressive performances for the side.”