Adam Lyth’s stunning start to the season, particularly in County Championship cricket, has got the romantics dreaming of an unexpected call-up to England’s Test squad for this winter’s Ashes tour.

But it is pretty plain to see that the man himself is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, understandably trotting out that age-old cliche.

“I’ve just got to keep scoring runs for Yorkshire,” said the affable 22-year-old after scoring his third hundred of the season in the Roses match at Old Trafford earlier in the week.

“If I get an England Lions or England call, I would be absolutely over the moon, but Yorkshire is my main priority.”

It is not just the weight of runs Lyth has scored this summer that has got tongues wagging, it is also the carefree manner in which he has scored them.

Lancashire skipper Glen Chapple, who bowled to him at Old Trafford, summed it up perfectly when he said: “His weight of runs this year speaks for itself.

“He’s difficult to bowl at but he does give you a chance. He’s a dashing left-hander who plays some great shots. He’s in good form at the moment.”

Lyth, who has also impressed greatly in Twenty20 over the last couple of weeks or so, has gone head to head with Mark Ramprakash to be the first batsman in the country to reach 1,000 runs in the Championship.

It really has been a battle between the old and the new, as Lyth was only born a few months after Ramprakash made his Middlesex debut in 1987.

It is a contest that Lyth is now the red-hot favourite to win seen as Ramprakash’s Surrey are not in Championship action this week, whereas Yorkshire host Warwickshire at Headingley starting tomorrow.

Lyth, who needs another 18 runs to reach the milestone, said: “Ramprakash is a fantastic player and has been a great servant to English cricket. It would be great to get there before him.”

Saying Lyth has a carefree attitude to batting is perhaps taking it a step too far but he is certainly not adverse to taking a chance.

He said: “That’s just the way that I play. Some days it doesn’t come off, some days it does. This year it’s come off more than just a few times.”

Yes, it is a long shot for Lyth to claim a plane ticket down under in early November – after all, he has not yet played for the England Lions side. But his languid batting style would suit the generally true nature of the Aussie pitches.

Time will tell but whichever path Lyth’s career takes, it will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.

Meanwhile, Lyth has also earned the praise from prolific batsman Jacques Rudolph, his Yorkshire colleague and locum opening partner for the most recent Championship match against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

But Rudolph, who is also a banker for 1,000 runs for the White Rose county this summer, has urged Lyth not to rest on his laurels.

The South African said: “He’s obviously had a brilliant season so far. But I’ve already said to him that a standard for a top-order batsman means that 1,000 runs is not enough.

“It’s a mentality that if you get 1,000 runs, it’s a good season. But with 16 games, you should be getting more than that. He should be trying to get up to 1,500-1,600 runs this summer.”