The names of the 16 selected players were announced yesterday in a simple ceremony at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city.

Eight batsmen, six bowlers and a couple of wicketkeepers were given the scholarship.

It began across the country back in May in as many as 20 venues with the participation of 14,000 young cricketers.

Pink City general manager NI Maksud, RF Properties Limited managing director Kamrul Hasan and former manager of the national cricket team Col (retd) MA Latif Khan handed over crests and certificates to the selected players, while five former Bangladesh captains -- Raquibul Hasan, Gazi Ashraf Hossain, Aminul Islam Bulbul, Akram Khan and Naimur Rahman -- gave away cricket bats to the selected players.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) game development committee chairman Khondoker Jamiluddin, who was present on the occasion declared that the final phase 30 players will be later included in BCB's different age-level camp.

"These players are going to participate in the national championship this month and some first division clubs are interested in them as well. We also plan to take them in other districts to play matches as a team in the near future," said Debabrata Paul, one of the organisers and a familiar face in domestic cricket.

The selected players are: Mohammad Rubel, Shahan Shahriar, Sajedul Alam, Abhijit Baidya, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rana, Mohammad Ilyas, Sheikh Syed, Shafiul Islam, Shahnewaz Khan Shawon, Rashedur Rahman, Jami Sahabuddin, Shahin Alam, Omar Faruq, Ehsanul Huq and Sanowar Chowdhury.