Gloucestershire will pitch teenage bowling prospect David Payne in at the deep end in tonight's floodlit Pro-40 League encounter with Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.

The England Under-19 international is set to make his debut less than a week after signing a two-year contract which will keep him on the Nevil Road staff until at least the end of the 2011 season.

He owes his opportunity to Gloucestershire's decision to rest senior bowlers Steve Kirby, Jon Lewis and James Franklin in readiness for this week's crucial County Championship contest against Middlesex, which begins at Lord's on Thursday.

Director of Cricket John Bracewell explained: "We cannot now win the Pro-40 League, so the remaining three games offer us a chance to look at some of the younger guys we are trying to develop.

"David Payne is a promising young left-arm swing bowler with a nice action and a lovely run-up. He's progressed well in the Academy and the second team and is now ready to step up.

"We have to give him a chance to show what he can do and playing against Hampshire will give him valuable experience ahead of next season.

"He did well for England Under-19s against Bangladesh earlier this year and deserves this opportunity."

Now fully recovered from swine flu, seam bowler Anthony Ireland is recalled to the squad, but there is no place for opening batsman Craig Spearman. Bracewell explained: "We know what Craig can do and he hasn't had much cricket or scored many runs recently.

"We're working on new strategies for next season and we want to continue to give a chance to the young guys at the top of the order."

Bracewell has identified the first 15 overs as an area in which Gloucestershire need to improve if they are to finish their campaign on a high note.

He said: "Generally, the team which wins the first 15 overs goes on to win the match. We've lost games because we haven't played well enough at the start. It was also a problem for us in the first six overs in Twenty20 and it's something we have to look at with an eye on next season.

"We need to be more explosive in our batting.

"Most of our top-order batsmen are workers and they need to develop a power game to make us more competitive in the shorter formats."

Gloucestershire Gladiators (from): Porterfield, Ali, Gidman, Marshall, Taylor, Brown, Adshead, Dawson, Saxelby, Ireland, Payne, Woodman.