JAIK Mickleburgh is the latest product to roll off the Essex Academy conveyor belt to make an immediate favourable impression in county cricket.

The talented teenager made his initial first team appearance towards the end of last season when playing against PCA Masters in the Twenty20 Floodlight Cup scoring 10.

But Mickleburgh was given his championship debut at Leicester-shire last week and launched his career with an eye-catching display with the bat as the visitors won inside two days to rekindle their promotion hopes.

“It was a dream debut scoring a half-century and being part of the team that won with two days to spare,” Mickleburgh told the Echo.

“Paul Grayson contacted me on Sunday and asked me to be play in the game and it was an opportunity obviously that I relished.

“I felt that I was ready to make the step up and it was good to come into what is a young Essex side and to win so easily was excellent.”

Born in Norwich, Mickleburgh learned his craft in his native county.

“I was brought up playing cricket in Norfolk since the age of nine for a club called Topcroft, but I moved two or three years ago to Horsford who play in the East Anglian Premier League where Grant Flower played for a year,” he explained.

“I’ve had a good season this year, possibly my best so far. I’ve been scoring plenty of runs in the Second Eleven for Essex and although I’d played Minor Counties cricket for Norfolk in the past, I’ve only been able to play one-day cricket for them this year because of my commitments with Essex.

“It’s been good to have been given my opportunity to play for the Essex first team and hopefully, I'll get another chance or two between now and the end of the season and show what I can do.”

A right-handed batsman, Mickleburgh has impressed with his strokeplay on both sides of the wicket against Leicester-shire.

But he was particularly forceful playing into the leg side that saw him clear the boundary with two pulled sixes in his 60 runs, the second off paceman Dillon du Preez which took him to his half-century.

“I’ve been practicing the pull shot quite a bit this year and I was pleased that it served me well against Leicestershire,” Mickleburgh said.

“To get to the half-century was very satisfying, it’s a milestone although it would have been nice to have gone on and got a century but it wasn’t to be.

“Hopefully, that will come if I get another chance.

“The whole experience has been a good learning curve for me, everything that happens at this level is so intense, more focussed and professional but it’s an experience that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.”

The 18-year-old benefited from the Graham Gooch Scholarship Scheme last winter when he spent a rewarding time in Melbourne playing for Newtown and Chilwell and he is set to revisit the country once again.

The Norwich-born player is a genuine all-rounder although his activities with the ball have been reduced this year because of injury.

“I bowl right-arm medium pace but I’ve been injured with shin splints which has hampered me quite a lot throughout this season,” Mickleburgh explained.

“But I’m going back to Australia during the winter and hopefully, I can get myself fully fit. “I’ve been given a 10-week exercise programme to get my lower body strength up to the level it needs to be so that I can bowl again and come back to Essex next season and do a job as an all-rounder.”

Essex coach Paul Grayson expressed his satisfaction with the way Mickleburgh is shaping up, saying: “I was delighted with Jaik’s attitude and performance, he’s come in and done a terrific job for us.

“He’s been scoring and playing well all year in the second team and this was a good opportunity to get him in and a good experience for him.

“He looked very comfortable and very composed and he’s certainly one for the future.

“It’s very encouraging to see someone fit into our environment straight away. I’m very pleased for him.”