JAMIE Overton says he will continue to strive for improvement after being selected in a 30-man England performance squad for the summer series’.

The fast bowler – who said he was ‘very pleased’ by with his selection – now hopes to push his way further up the England pecking order and is focused on continuing his strong start to the season.

Overton said: “I’m very pleased. Everyone wants to play for England and that’s obviously the main aim as a professional cricketer but at the moment my focus is on doing the best that I can for Somerset.

“Hopefully I can push on, put in some good performances and then we will see what happens.”

Somerset director of cricket, Matt Maynard said the youngster’s selection was just reward for some impressive early season performances, and believes Jamie’s twin brother, Craig and teammate, Lewis Gregory were also close to being included.

Maynard said: “It’s great news for Jamie - he obviously impressed the selectors during the winter.

"He’s been bowling really well and he has a tremendous amount of potential.

"He’s shown that he’s fit and hopefully this can be the first step on the road to something really exciting for him.

"He’s maturing as a cricketer and that is exactly what we want for him.

"He has that extra gear which can take the game away from the opposition, just like his brother.

“If we can keep producing players who are getting international recognition, then we will be strong as a county and it’s extremely important that we do so.

"It’s vital that we continue to give our young players the opportunity to show what they can do. It’s the only way that they will gain that experience.

"I’m really pleased for Jamie and I don’t imagine that Craig (Overton) and Lewis (Gregory) were far away from making the squad as well.”