A young cricketer from Cheshire will be stepping up to the crease to play for England this month in a series of matches in South Africa.

Rob Jones, 17 and from Stockton Heath, is studying BTec sports performance and excellence at Priestley College and is one of 18 boys chosen from the England Development U17s to compete against eight South African teams.

Rob said: “I always played just because I love the game, but I never thought I’d be where I am today, playing for England.”

This will be Rob’s second foreign tour having played in India last year.

“India was a fantastic experience and I would go back again tomorrow,” he said.

“We worked with 50 kids from the slums giving them a cricket day with a packed lunch and t-shirts.

“They absolutely loved it and it was one of the most rewarding days of my life.”

Rob hopes to repeat this experience and has enlisted more than a dozen classmates to help raise money to buy pencils and notebooks for South African children to help with their schooling.

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