Xavi Clarke joins festival party in Sri Lanka

The Oswestry batsman and wrist spinner is in a 14-man touring squad picked after last year's Under-15s Bunbury Festival.

They will play two games in Colombo and two in Galle as part of the two-week trip, which sees them in action at some of Sri Lanka's top cricket venues.

The tour has been organised to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bunbury Festival, organised by philanthropist and cricket fanatic David English and features the cream of under-15s cricketers from across the country each year.

Cricket Shropshire's Steve Aston, who is team manager for the trip, said it was a great opportunity for Worcestershire academy player Clarke and the rest of the squad.

He said: "It will be tough as the Sri Lankans are taking the tour very seriously and are in the middle of their season, whereas the England boys have obviously been restricted to indoor training with their clubs during the winter. We have one training session booked at Sri Lanka's high performance centre at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo before we are straight into the action on Sunday.

"But it will be great experience for the squad to play international cricket in overseas conditions and everyone is really looking forward to the tour."

More than 300 Bunburys have gone on to play first-class cricket – and more than 60 have represented England since the festival was launched 30 years ago.