Shropshire's Joe Clarke gets Lions call
Shropshire cricket star Joe Clarke has earned himself a call-up to the England Lions.
The wicket-keeper batsman will feature in the Lions programme this winter against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
Shrewsbury-born Clarke has played Birmingham & District League cricket for Oswestry and Wellington and represented Shropshire.
He will initially be part of an England Performance Programme squad, alongside his Worcestershire team-mate Ross Whiteley.
The squad will take in a batting and spin camp in Dubai from November 11 to December 1. At 19, Clarke is the youngest member.
They will then form part of the Lions squad which will take on Pakistan A in five T20 matches in the United Arab Emirates from December 1 to 17.
It's the first Lions call-up for Clarke and his elevation has delighted Oswestry, whose chairman Mike Robinson said: "It's fantastic news.
"Joe has made great strides this year, though we've always known he was a special talent from the moment he first held a bat.
"He made his debut for us when he was 13 and could barely see over the stumps, but I don't think anyone expected him to make quite this much progress so quickly.
"He started the season in style, hitting two centuries for our first team, so we'd like to think that set him on his way.
"It's not been a great year for the club with the first-team being relegated but, with Joe having done so well, it's something for us to shout about."
Clarke made an instant impact at New Road, breaking into the senior side after becoming the first player to score two double hundreds for the second-team.
No less a judge than ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan has tipped him for the 2017 Ashes squad, saying: "He will emerge in the same way as Joe Root did a few years ago."
