SOMERSET vice-captain, Sophie Luff rounded off her 2015 in style by being named as one of the young players to watch by the Independent newspaper.

Luff was hugely impressive in 2015, scoring three centuries including an unbeaten 138 for Somerset at the County Ground against Wales, which clinched promotion back to the top division – and the 22-year-old said she was pleased to be recognised for her achievements.

She said: “It's always nice to be recognised and this time on a national scale, it came as a complete surprise,” said Luff.

Luff was voted the most promising young female cricketer by the Cricket Society, and before Christmas the top order batter - who plays her club cricket along with her brother and father for Lympsham in the Somerset Cricket League - was at a training camp in Sri Lanka, which involved a mixture of Academy and Performance Squad players who weren't playing in the Australian Big Bash competition.

She added: “It was good to experience Sri Lanka again having previously toured with the Academy there back in 2014.”

“It was valuable in that I have picked up a couple of areas which I can work hard to develop over the rest of the winter.

“I was also invited to a couple of the performance squad training camps before the tour and again it was a great experience to get involved with the England girls and see how they go about things.

“In terms of the rest of the winter, I'm up at Loughborough a couple weekends a month training with the Academy and there is an upcoming tour - potentially a tri-series - to Sri Lanka around March time, so I'll be working hard to get selected for that.”

“I'm always excited for a new season to start, but none more so than this year especially with the introduction of the Women's Super League.

“Also, the challenge of Division One cricket with Somerset is an exciting prospect and one we can relish and do well in.”