There was good news for Nottinghamshire today when it was announced that three promising young players have pledged their immediate futures to the club.

23 year-old wicket-keeper Chris Read and pace bowler Paul Franks, 22, have both signed three-year contracts while Gareth Clough, a 23 year-old medium pace bowler has signed a two-year deal.

After coming through England youth teams, the England A set-up and then playing three full Tests for England in 1999 and nine one-day internationals, Read was said by some to have gone backwards in terms of career development.

He answered those critics last season when he claimed 44 first-class victims as a wicket-keeper and, significantly, had his most successful season with the bat. He scored 666 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 30.27 while going past fifty on five occasions.

He said: "My contract was up at the end of the season but it was not hard for me to decide to stay with Notts. I'm very happy with the way things are going at the moment. I felt I had a good year and while the results did not go as well as we would've liked, we have the nucleus of a very good young side. We are in the middle of a transitional period but in the very near future will have a team at Trent Bridge with the majority of players in their mid-20s that is capable of winning all sorts of trophies."

Franks has followed a similar career path to Read, in that he was vice-captain of the England Under 19 team that won the Youth World Cup in South Africa in 1997-98, went on two England A tours and then made it into the England one-day team for the NatWest Series in the summer 2000.

He made a good start to last season, managing to average 54.25 with the bat and taking 13 wickets in the five first-class matches he could play before his season was prematurely ended by a persistent knee injury.

Looking forward to returning to full fitness himself for 2002, he said: "With the players we have here at the moment, the next two or three years promises to be an exciting time and hopefully this new contract will enable me to play a big part in that. Injuries allowed some of the younger guys to gain valuable experience this year and I know it's been said before but I genuinely believe we have the players to achieve anything we want to next season."

Clough played one match for his native Yorkshire in 1998 and moved to Trent Bridge in 2000 when he appeared in the 2nd XI. Last season he only played in four first-class matches, but he was chosen for most of Nottinghamshire's one-day matches where he enjoyed a certain amount of success.

Clough said: "I was very pleased with the way my first season went at Trent Bridge and am very happy with the two-year contract I've been offered. I would like to have played a few more Championship games and that's what I will be aiming to do next year. It's an exciting time at Notts, anyone in the squad can justify a place, there's plenty of competition and it's up to each and every one of us to stake our claim."

Last year Nottinghamshire finished seventh in Division Two of the CricInfo Championship, fifth in Division One of the Norwich Union League, lost to eventual finalists Leicestershire in the fourth round of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, but reached the semi-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup after topping their qualifying group.

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