Joe Clarke says he takes inspiration from Moeen Ali when it comes to his own ambitions to eventually play for England.
The Worcestershire wicket-keeper-batsman is currently preparing for the second leg of the England Lions programme – five 50 over matches against Pakistan 'A' in the UAE during January.
Nineteen-year-old Clarke had the opportunity to chat with his county colleague when the Lions and full senior squads were in the UAE preparing for their various matches before Christmas.
Moeen is today in Second Test action against South Africa in Cape Town after being named man of the match for the opening match of the series after his 7-116 from 51 overs.
Clarke said: "Do I take inspiration from Moeen Ali's achievements? Of course. It is really good just seeing him do well. We trained a bit with the England first team when we were over in the UAE at the same time as the ODI and T 20 squads.
"It was good to chat to Mooen. It was a bit of a disappointing Test series for him (against Pakistan) and I think he was a bit down about it.
"To see him come back from that and get man of the match in the first Test in South Africa was awesome to see.
"When you see him doing that, it gives you the inspiration.
"You see someone you know so well doing that and hopefully one day I can sort of replicate that and do something similar to what he is doing.
"He is a massive inspiration and he has been at Worcestershire for many years and it shows you can do the job for Worcestershire and be part of the international team."
