Three members of Keighley Albion Cats Rugby League team have been selected for the Great Britain squad to tour Australia in 2002.

The Cats have just finished their first season in the top flight and aim to be in the top half of the table in the coming campaign.

An initial squad of 35 will start training for at the end of July. After a winter of intense preparation the squad will be whittled down to the final 24 in April next year. The players will then fly out to Australia in early July for a three test series with matches scheduled to take place in Brisbane, Penrith and Canberra and there will also be a number of provincial matches.

Cats Captain Laura Ackroyd, 20, has just finished an amazing season which saw her gain the Premier Division Player of the Season award. The stand-off has played in all 22 of the Cats games scoring an incredible 242 points from 34 tries and 53 goals. This accounts for more than half of the total scored by the team (462).

Centre Sarah Cartwright (botom) has previously attended GB trials for last Autumn's tri-series tournament involving Australia and New Zealand. The speedy centre often uses her blistering pace to score long distance tries and is second to Laura in the try scoring tally with 20.

Winger Saima Hussain is the third highest scoring player with nine tries to her credit this season. A relative newcomer to the game Saima gained the Most Improved Player award at the Albion presentation evening.

Saima has continued to raise her standards and confidence in attack and defence. The most noticeable aspect of her play is her tenacious tackling and speed down the line.

Coach Andy MacDonald said he was delighted with the girls' selection for the GB squad. "It is a measure of the team's improvement and their dedication that the girls have made the final squad."