Monday, July 18th, 2016

Dolly Aiming To Boost Full England Ambitions After Lions Call-Up

Dolly Aiming To Boost Full England Ambitions After Lions Call-Up

Brett D'Oliveira is hoping to make a favourable impression with England Lions – and boost his ambitions of eventually breaking into the senior squad.

The Worcestershire opener has been included in the Lions squad for the Tri-Series with Sri Lanka 'A' and Pakistan 'A' which is taking place at Cheltenham, Northampton and Canterbury during the next week.

County team-mate Joe Clarke, who is also in the Lions squad, has already revealed his hunger to play for England – and D'Oliveira has similar ambitions.

He said: "It is every kid's dream to play for England so it (the Lions call-up) is one step closer and I'm over the moon to get there.

"I actually missed the phone call from Mike Newell (England selector) but he left a message and I managed to get back to him.

"It may have seemed a long way off when I was batting number eight in the Seconds but it was still in my thoughts.

"I still wanted to get there and try and achieve everything I could. I'm really happy I've got this far and hopefully I can go on and do a bit more.

"Why stop at England Lions if you can push on and put on the actual England shirt? Hopefully I can do well this coming week and impress a few people."

England launch their campaign versus Pakistan 'A' at Cheltenham tomorrow.