Boulton targets national call-up

5:19pm Tuesday 7th October 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Keighley cricket ace Charlotte Boulton has vowed to follow in the footsteps of England seamer Anya Shrubsole and gatecrash head coach Mark Lane’s future one-day party.

The 16-year-old South Craven High School pupil received a major boost in July when she was selected alongside 52 of the best English teenagers to play in the Junior Super Fours.

Boulton was used as a reserve for the tournament in which four teams play three 50-over matches in a similar format to that of the senior competition.

Shrubsole made her England debut against South Africa aged 16 this summer and Bradford Ladies star Boulton believes she has what it takes to continue her meteoric rise up the cricketing ladder.

“I definitely want to play for England and being a reserve in the Junior Super Fours was a great spur for me to keep progressing,” said Boulton – who is part of the Yorkshire development squad at Headingley Carnegie.

“I would be really excited to play for England – when you watch the girls playing it just makes you think ‘I hope that’s me’. They’ve had Anya in their squad for this series and it has made me think that that could be me.

“Playing for Yorkshire and Bradford has given me a lot of opportunities to improve and that’s all I can do and hopefully that will mean I get the call.”

Sussex spinner Holly Colvin became the youngest ever player to play for England in 2005, aged just 15, and head coach Lane admitted Boulton has every chance of one day representing her country.

“Ultimately we want to get to a base of 24 players good enough to play for England as quickly as possible,” he said. “And the thing with women’s cricket is that you can get yourself into the England set-up quite quickly.

“You can go from club to county and county to country in a couple of years.

• England can be seen in action in NatWest Women’s Series at various grounds across the country. Visit www.ecb.co.uk/womens for more details.

.