Neil Edwards sets his sights on a first team place

Neil Edwards is back at the County Ground making his final preparations for the 2003 season after spending the first part of this year in Australia playing for England Under 19's.

During his trip `down under' the young opening bat enjoyed considerable success, narrowly missing out on centuries in both the Youth Test series and the One Day Internationals, and apart from the first match of the tour was an ever present in the team.

Reflecting on his Australian trip he said: " My confidence grew so much when I was out there, to know that I can go out there and perform against the best young players in the world on some of the best pitches in the world. This has helped me so much in my preparations for this coming season."

How did it feel to be part of the first England Under 19 side to have won `down under' I asked. "I can't fully describe the experience. The first morning of the match was the only time I felt nervous, but once I got out to the middle I settled down and never really looked back. The game swung to and fro, but to play on a winning side was fantastic, and if I had got just three more runs and scored a century on my England debut well that would have been the icing on the cake," he said.

He continued: "I have had a break and spent time back at home with my family in Cornwall since my return,but now it's good to back training at the County Ground. It certainly is a bit different to how things were out in Australia. A lot has happened to me since I left just after Christmas," he said.

Looking forward to the new season he said: "I want to get into the first team, it's as simple as that. What I have to do is to score runs in the second team and make myself the best batsman in the side so that if any opportunities come along in the first team I am the one who will be give the chance, and that's realistic."

Regarding the young Cornishman, Assistant Coach Mark Garaway told me: "Neil has improved no end. It is quite incredible the progress that he has made over the last twelve months. He made quite an impression on the England Under 19's tour and he will certainly be pushing for a place in the first team this season."