LONDON'S Palash Joshi is hoping his form this season will lead to a professional contract with Glamorgan after returning from Abu Dhabi with the MCC Young Cricketers.

The team was set up to develop academy graduates who have not been offered a contract and give them the opportunity to showcase their talents against professional counties in the 2nd XI Championship and Trophy.

On the tour, they took on Middlesex in two T20s before playing a pair of games against MCCU Combined XI and rounded off proceedings with a 50-over outing against Sussex at the 20,000-capacity Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

All-rounder Joshi, who had spells with Essex, Northamptonshire and Surrey, impressed with bat and ball and, after dramatically helping defeat Sussex by two runs, the 22-year-old admits the experience will live long in the memory.

“The tour was really good,” said Joshi, who benefits from the MCC investing £300,000 in the scheme each year.

“I’ve got a bit of a lead at Glamorgan, so I’m hoping performances like that will get them to take notice and help me get into development there and signed by the end of the year.”

The Young Cricketers are coached by former England international and Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne and were joined in the Middle East by England test skipper Alastair Cook.

Cook was in Abu Dhabi as part of the MCC Champion County squad, in preparation for England’s tour of the West Indies, and Joshi spent some time with him while out injured.

“I sprained my knee during the tour so I was with the physio one night in a bar for a catch-up and Alastair Cook was there,” added Joshi, who is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sir Ian Botham – a successful former MCC graduate.

“We didn’t really talk about cricket. He was very much off game-mode at the time. We talked about hunting for most of it.”

Marylebone Cricket Club’s famous Young Cricketers programme provides expert coaching, intensive playing schedules and world-class facilities to young men and women with the potential to progress to professional cricket. Notable ‘graduates’ include Sir Ian Botham, New Zealand’s Ross Taylor and England Women’s Heather Knight.