DARYL Mitchell has become the second recent Worcestershire Cri-cket Academy graduate to secure a professional contract that starts immediately and runs until the end of the 2006 season.

Mitchell, 21, hails from Badsey and has spent the last three seasons playing in the county's second eleven before making his first-class debut this season.

The real breakthrough came with a battling five-hour innings of 63 not out against Leicestershire - an innings that proved to head coach, Steve Rhodes, that Mitchell has a role to play in the years ahead - and a series of good bowling displays during the Twenty20 Cup campaign.

Rhodes said: "Daryl has stepped up his game significantly this season and proved against Leicestershire on an uneven surface that he is capable of playing at the top level. He is a determined young man and also an excellent fielder."

Mitchell was a member of the second XI Trophy winning team in 2004 and is delighted with this latest advance in his career.

"This is something I have been working towards for ten years and, being a local lad, I am delighted to have signed with the club that I have supported all my life."