HE'S English and he's Australian - and he will captain a York Cricket Club team this summer.

Jason English who hails from Down Under, will lead the York 2nd XI side in the Hunters the Estate Agent York and District Cricket League.

It is probably the first time in the club's 222-year history that one of its sides has been led by an overseas player. English, who teaches business studies in Leeds, scored nearly 1,000 runs for York last season.

He was appointed at the York club's recent annual meeting, at which Marcus Wood, Steve Jones and Tom Copeland were elected to continue as captains of the first, third and fourth teams.

The meeting heard that the Clifton Park-based club invested £40,000 in facilities to provide a new off-field grass practice facility and to extend its second square by five strips.

Part funding was provided by the English Cricket Board and Yorventure, the funding arm of Yorwaste Ltd. The balance was provided by assistance from the club's main sponsors Costcutter Ltd and by Norwich Union.

Projects in hand for the current year include the conversion to electronic scoring of the main scoreboard and increased grass-roots level coaching.

York CC's evening indoor training starts on Monday with a new session aimed at Under-9s. Tuesday evening is for seniors and U15s, with Wednesday evenings devoted to U11 and U13 groups. For further information, contact club chairman Chris Houseman on 01904 610258.

Updated: 10:31 Thursday, January 19, 2006