COLCHESTER-born batter Charlie Allison has signed a rookie contract with Essex covering the remainder of the 2023 season.

The talented 18-year-old, who is the younger brother of established Essex first-team player Ben Allison, has been on the club's age-group pathway from under-nine level.

In club cricket, Allison plays for his hometown team Colchester and East Essex CC and last year hit 249 runs at 41.50 and took 13 wickets at 20.84 in the Hamro Foundation Essex League premier division.

The right hander made his Essex second XI debut in a ten-wicket T20 victory against Middlesex at Southend’s Garon Park in May, last year.

 

Allison will wear number 56 and after committing his immediate future to the club said: “I’m thrilled to sign this contract with Essex, which is a huge step forward in my career.

“With a competition like the One Day Cup, which gives developing players more of a chance to make their first-team debut than ever before, just around the corner, it feels like a really exciting time to come on board.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me get to this point, and I can’t wait to hopefully step on the field and win matches for my home county.”

As a youngster, Allison has also benefited from the coaching at Piri Piri Cricket led by Colchester bowler Ben Stephens.

 

Back in 2012, he enjoyed prominence as a six-year-old after footage of his excellent batting technique was posted on YouTube by PiriPiri Cricket.

In his nine second XI T20 matches to date, Allison has a strike rate of 150.63.

In July 2018, aged just 13, he returned figures of 2-24 from seven overs in a nine-wicket victory over Norfolk, in a 50-over match.

He has further underlined his credentials in the second XI Championship this season by crunching consecutive centuries against Middlesex and Hampshire for a total of 226 runs in just 282 balls.

 

Essex have also signed Mackenzie Jones on a short-term rookie deal.

Jones has made three appearances for Essex's second XI so far this season and in the same match against Hampshire which saw Allison post the second of his back-to-back hundreds, he contributed an unbeaten 16 as well as figures of 1/12 from six overs.