Five of Yorkshire's most outstanding young cricketers are being groomed to help England in their bid to win next year's Under-19s World Cup in Malaysia.

The quintet, who have been included in the England and Wales Cricket Board's 25-strong first development squad, are Bradford-born wicketkeeper-batsman Jonathan Bairstow, wicketkeeper-batsman Greg Wood, from Holmfirth, right-arm fast bower James Lee, from Thackley, right-arm fast bowler Oliver Hannon-Dalby, from Salterhebble, Halifax, and left-hand batsman Chris Allinson, from Guisborough.

Currently in the Academy and Yorkshire Second XI teams, the five of them will be closely monitored throughout this season and will undergo physical screening and take part in a special programme of cricket performances.

They will be observed by John Abrahams, the former Lancashire batsman, who is the ECB's Elite Player Development manager, and former Nottinghamshire fast bowler Andy Pick, who is the EPD coach.

The process will lead to trial matches at the National Cricket Centre at Loughborough in late August and further matches in early September against county Second XIs.

The most experienced of the group is 18-year-old Wood, who captained England Under-19s on their tour of Malaysia last winter and is already well used to the conditions which will prevail in the World Cup.

Wood moved up from Academy status to become a Yorkshire junior professional this year and he showed lots of courage when he quickly returned to the action after suffering a serious injury while playing for Yorkshire Seconds earlier this season when a ball squeezed through the grille of his helmet and struck him in the eye.

He scored 86 for the Seconds versus Scotland at Stamford Bridge in early June but his tour de force came a few days later when he plundered 210 with 27 fours and five sixes for the Academy in their 98-run win against Sheffield Collegiate at Abbeydale Park.

Jonathan Bairstow is the 17-year-old son of former Yorkshire and England wicketkeeper David, and the indications are that he could go on to enjoy a career equally illustrious to that of his father.

A member of the Yorkshire Schools' Cricket Association tour of South Africa last winter, he has represented Yorkshire Schools from under-11s upwards and played an active part in the under-15s achieving the Championship and Cup double in 2005.

A member of the Yorkshire Under-17s winning team of 2006, Bairstow is a versatile sportsman, having played rugby for Yorkshire Schools' Under-16s and football for Leeds Under-15s.

Lee was born in Sheffield but moved to Thackley at an early age and the 18-year-old made a surprise Yorkshire first-team debut last season when he played in the Roses match at Old Trafford. He bowled well without taking a wicket and proved himself to be a courageous all-rounder by scoring an unbeaten 21.

He matured quickly with Bradford League club Bankfoot and in 2005 opened the bowling for the first team and captured 28 wickets. On his Yorkshire Seconds debut last year he bagged five for 66 against Warwickshire Seconds.

Eighteen-year-old Hannon-Dalby is shaping up as one of the fastest young bowlers on Yorkshire's books.

A winner of the Ian Steen Memorial Award for the most improved under-15s player and the YCB Alec Holdsworth bowling award for under-16s, he grabbed six wickets for the Academy in their win over Doncaster Town in mid-May and a further six wickets for Yorkshire Seconds when they beat Scotland Seconds.

The youngest of the five is Allinson, who was 17 in April. He marked his Yorkshire Seconds debut in sensational style last August when he hammered 127 and 72 not out against Somerset Seconds at Taunton.

He too was a member of the Yorkshire Schools' team which did the ECB Championship and Cup double in 2005 and last year he was a part of the Under-17s Championship-winning team.

These Yorkshire-born youngsters may not be household names yet but here's hoping that one day they will as well known as the likes of Michael Vaughan, Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard.