At the County Ground this morning Somerset's Ian Blackwell was 'absolutely delighted' at the news that he has been selected for the Academy trip to Australia this winter.

Before the Academy trip however the twenty four year old all rounder is travelling out to Sri Lanka later this week as part of the England squad for the ICC Trophy in Sri Lanka.

He told me: "I'm very much looking forward to the trip, and I hope that I can impress them and try to get my foot in the door."

He continued: "Early on Thursday morning I shall be travelling up to London with Marcus Trescothick and meeting with the rest of the England players before catching a plane to Dubai and then onto Colombo. Assuming that we get through to the final stages I return to England on September 30th."

Regarding Blackwell's selection for the ICC Trophy his travelling companion Marcus Trescothick told me: "This will be a great experience for Ian. He has done the easy bit getting into the squad now he has to get into the side and do well. The hard work is just about to start for him."

Reflecting on the 2002 season 'Blackie' told me: "Personally it has been a good season for me with three centuries and a 98, plus the C and G Lords final, but our form in the championship and the NUL has been disappointing."

He continued: "It has been very frustrating for us all because we have got a good team and should have performed much better than we did. However if we do go down in the championship then we will be looking to bounce straight back next season."

He concluded: "Despite the fact that we are already relegated in the NUL there was a good crowd and a great atmosphere at Taunton on Sunday when we beat Kent which helped us out there."

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