ENGLAND STARS JOIN ISM TEAM - 17th January 2004  

Two of England’s brightest young stars have joined the International Sports Management cricket team. Surrey all-rounder Rikki Clarke and Kent wicketkeeper Geraint Jones have asked the company that already boasts captain Michael Vaughan, opener Marcus Trescothick and the incomparable Freddie Flintoff among its clients to handle their business affairs.

ISM chief Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler said:  “We already have a very strong cricket team and Rikki and Geraint will add to that strength.   We are honoured that two such talents should want to come on board and we look forward to a long association”. Neil Fairbrother, ISM’s director of cricket and former England Test and one-day international star, added:   “Rikki and Geraint have enormous potential and just how far they go in the game depends entirely on them.  They have the ability to go to the top”. Clarke, a stylish right-hand bat and medium-fast bowler, made his England Test debut in Bangladesh last autumn a few months after playing in the limited-over side for the first time.  The 22-year-old averages more than 40 with the bat in first class cricket and was the 2002 Young Cricketer of the Year. Kent wicketkeeper Jones, 27, was born in Papua New Guinea of Welsh Parents and lived and played cricket in Australia until he was 22.   With a first class average of 42.85, he is expected to push Chris Read for the job behind the stumps this season. Clarke and Jones are both included in England’s Test and one-day squads for the Tour to the West Indies next March.