Liam Plunkett has admitted he is loving his cricket again after impressing for England Lions at the weekend.

The Yorkshire all-rounder was one of three county colleagues who scored centuries for the Lions during a three-day tour match in Sri Lanka which finished on Saturday, joining Alex Lees and Jonny Bairstow.

After Lees scored 119 at the top of the order in the first innings of the clash with the Sri Lanka A Emerging Players side in Colombo, Bairstow added 117 in the second and Plunkett 114. The White Rose pair shared 210 for the fifth wicket.

Plunkett, 28, played the last of his 39 full internationals for England a little over three years ago before enduring a horrible last two seasons with Durham.

That Yorkshire offered Plunkett a three-year contract ahead of last season was seen as a gamble by many but he encouraged with bat and ball during his first season.

He is still some way off an England recall but he is highly rated in the national set-up because of his versatility.

“I am at the stage now where I am 28, and last year I fell back in love with cricket,” he said.

“After a couple of years that were a bit of a downer, last year I really loved cricket. I have been excited to play and I was looking forward to coming out to Sri Lanka with Yorkshire in three or four weeks. To come out a bit earlier is good fun.”