SOMERSET director of cricket, Matthew Maynard says he is ‘delighted’ to have secured the futures of three ‘outstanding young cricketers’, after Craig Overton, Jamie Overton and Lewis Gregory put pen to paper on a new three-year contract with the county.

The talented trio have impressed for the county again this season and their form has been rewarded with call-ups to the England one-day squad - Gregory was called up to face Ireland in May and the Overton twins for the second half of last month’s five-match series against New Zealand.

Neither the Overtons, nor Gregory made the final XI – but Maynard believes there is plenty more to come from the academy graduates.

“Lewis, Craig and Jamie are outstanding cricketers with the potential to become even better,” he said.

“They have all performed extremely well this year and have rightly received international recognition.

“We are very pleased to have secured their services because they will be an absolutely vital part of this club for the years to come.

“They are great lads who offer a lot both on and off the field.”

The new deals keep the trio at Taunton until the end of 2018 and Somerset chief executive Guy Lavender believes their success ‘reflects very positively’ on the county’s academy set-up.

“The development of our own players remains vital to the long term future of the club,” he said.

“Investment and work in our talent development programme is an area that we view as a key priority.

“The emergence of Lewis, Craig and Jamie from that talent development programme reflects very positively on the system we have in place and our partnerships with our neighbouring counties.

“All three players have an exceptional cricketing future ahead of them and as they develop in their careers we are working extremely hard to nurture the next generation of Somerset players to follow in their footsteps.”