England U19s Captain, Max Holden has joined NCCC on loan from Middlesex and will be available for both County Championship and One Day Cup matches until his loan is up at the end of June.

Cambridgeshire born and raised, Holden began a four-year contract with Middlesex in 2016 after graduating from their Academy. The youngster has established himself in the second eleven with Middlesex for the last two years despite still studying at College.

He was promoted from their Academy to the senior group after racking up nearly 500 runs in the youth teams in 2012 and has also proved himself to be a more than useful bowler with his right-arm offbreak.

He has been selected for England at both U17 and U19 level. The 19-year-old is currently on tour in India with the England U19s and will lead the team in two four-day matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

David Graveney OBE, the Under-19s chairman of selectors, said: “Touring India at any level is challenging, as the senior England team would confirm. But that is why it is so valuable to be able to expose our best young players to these challenges at Under-19 level.

“We expect the India team to be very strong, as they showed in the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier this year and again in the Asia Cup, under the supervision of Rahul Dravid. So this is a huge opportunity for the 15 players who have been selected, especially with a return series against India at home next summer.

Holden first caught the eye of Northamptonshire’s Head Coach, David Ripley aged just 13: “I have followed his progress since I first tried to get him to join our Junior Academy back in 2011.

“I’m delighted to add him to the squad and add competition for places.”

Holden will join the Steelbacks as they head off on their pre-season tour to Barbados in early March. Speaking of the move, Max said: It’s great to get the opportunity to go to Barbados and hopefully put my name in the hat, but that’s the same for every player here, you’ve got to work to prove you’re worthy to start.

“Ultimately I want to play as much cricket as I can. Seeing HaseebHameed progress the way he has and break into the England team has really given me a push.

“Obviously the ambition is to play for the England test eleven, that’s the dream.”

England Under-19s to tour India, Jan 23 – Feb 25: M Fisher (Yorkshire, captain for one-day series), M Holden (Middlesex, captain for four-day matches), H Brook (Yorkshire)*, G Bartlett (Somerset), E Woods (Surrey)*, W Jacks (Surrey)*, D Rawlins (Sussex)*, O Pope (Surrey, wk), T Banton (Somerset, wk)*, L Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)*, L Shaw (Somerset)*, A Beard (Essex), J Blatherwick (Nottinghamshire)*, H Brookes (Warwickshire)*, J Bruce (Middlesex)*. * - uncapped.

Fixtures: One-day series v India Under-19s (Mumbai) – Jan 30 (Wankhede Stadium), Feb 1 (CCI), 3 (CCI), 6 (Wankhede Stadium), 8 (Wankhede Stadium); Four-day matches v India Under-19s (Chennai) – Feb 13-16, 21-24 (both MA Chidambaram Stadium).

Max chats to Steelbacks TV on his arrival at the club: