WORCESTERSHIRE County cricketers were screened for skin cancer as part of a health drive ahead of the new season.

The whole team was screened for cancer and for other evidence of skin damage at the club in New Road, Worcester, yesterday.

The initiative, which also ran last year, is run by the Professional Cricketers’ Association and skin clinic sk:n.

Players, including Vikram Solanki, Moeen Ali and Gareth Andrew had a UV lamp shone into their faces to show up damage caused by long training sessions and matches outdoors.

They also had a full body mole check.

The sk:n team is touring 22 county cricket clubs before the new season and by the end they expect to have screened more than 500 people, including players and coaches.

Director of cricket for Worcestershire Steve Rhodes said: “This is such an important aspect of our players’ health so we are delighted that they will all benefit from such stringent skin health care checks.”

Dr Sean Lanigan said: “We welcome sports associations such as the PCA leading the charge when it comes to their players’ skin health and urge others to follow.”