Wayne Parnell, aged 19, became the youngest South African cricketer to be awarded central contracts by the cricket board on Tuesday.

Parnell, who is part of South Africa's [Images] ODI squad, is the 17th player to be awarded a contract for the period May 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010.

He made his international debut in both Pro20 and one-day international during the tour of Australia [Images] last year and is currently preparing for the first ODI against Australia in Durban on Friday. 

"At 19 years old, Wayne Parnell is the youngest player to be awarded a CSA contract and there are very good reasons for this," Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola said. 

"Wayne has come through the CSA structures since he played Bakers Mini Cricket as a 10-year-old, and has always shown that he is capable of converting his considerable talent into results," Majola said.

Parnell, for his part, said it was a "very great honour" to be awarded a national contract at this stage of his career. 

"I was still at school 15 months ago and, although I have always had ambitions of playing for South Africa somewhere down the line, I never imagined that it could happen so quickly."