ASHLEY Giles says age will be no barrier when it comes to selecting Bolton starlet Haseeb Hameed for Lancashire.

Hameed, formerly of Farnworth Social Circle, has been handed his first professional contract at Emirates Old Trafford ahead of 2015, and he has already started pre-season training with the senior squad.

Currently 17 and still completing his education, he turns 18 in mid-January.

Hameed’s name has been touted around for a number of years as a special talent, and he has shone in age-group cricket for Lancashire and England as well as the county’s second XI.

Between late July and early September of this year, the stylish right-hander went on an amazing run of form for Lancashire seconds and England under 19s, with his innings for the latter coming in one-day internationals against world champions South Africa.

He scored 15, 92, 112, 97, 97, 125, 32, 38, 48 and 12, with the two 97s and the 125 coming for his country.

Hameed signed his Lancashire contract before Giles was appointed as their new head coach and cricket director, but the former England coach has seen and heard enough to be excited about the teenager’s future.

“I am looking at it with fresh eyes, and if the guy is good enough, it would be wrong of us to hold him back just because of age,” said Giles, who has also got ex-Heaton leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson, 18, in his senior squad.

“It is down to them as much as us. If they produce the goods, they will get their opportunities. Nobody in this game is handed anything for nothing.

“Haseeb looks an exciting young player, and from what I have seen so far, he is an extremely professional guy for someone of his tender years. It is very exciting for the club.”

Hameed, Parkinson and teenage Lancashire fast bowler Saqib Mahmood are set to travel to the sub-continent between December 10 and 23 as part of an 18-man England Development Programme training camp.

The same group of players will then tour Australia between March 23 and April 23, which coincides with the start of the county season in early April.

Should Giles want to select Hameed, for example, to start the Championship season, the likelihood is that senior county cricket will take priority.

The 2015 county fixture list will be revealed on Thursday by the ECB.