Kent batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond is hoping a successful World Cup with the England Under 19’s will lead to county recognition.

The 18 year old opening batsman starred with the bat against South Africa last week, seeing off the threat of pace bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, recording scores of 42 and 48 not out against the tourists.

Bell-Drummond joined up with his England team-mates on Monday, including Kent all-rounder Adam Ball, who will skipper the England side down in Australia for the One Day tournament.

He played his part with the bat once again on Wednesday as he was 13 not out against his Ireland counterparts when the rain came and forced an abandonment at Grace Road, Leicester.

For the teenager, a succesful World Cup with England down in Australia in August will further enhance his flourishing career and he told KSN how he was keen to play well down under:

“The competition will be really fierce and it’s the chance of a lifetime to go out there and compete against other guys your age from around the world.”

“If we qualify from the group stage, which we should do, it just takes three games to win. We are definitely capable of that.”

“We showed when we went out to Australia that we can perform out there and we are a force to be reckoned with. I’m confident and hopefully we can do well and win the competition.”

There have already been calls for Bell-Drummond to be handed his chance in the Kent team after impressing in second eleven cricket, but the opener is happy to be going to Australia and will be more than happy to play for Kent in years to come:

“I just love playing cricket and representing my country at junior level is massive. I won’t be under nineteen forever, so hopefully there will be plenty more opportunities to try and break into the Kent first team.”

Bell-Drummond was one of the highlights for Kent as they drew against the South Africans and he told KSN how much he had enjoyed the experience:

“It was brilliant, the wicket flattened out quite a bit, so I tried to be as positive as I could. In the first innings, it was sticking into the wicket and seaming about a bit, second time around it was flatter and more helpful for the batting.”

“I was happy I got some runs, but annoyed I didn’t get to fifty, but I will always take a not out.”

“My main goal was to stay not out and I realised about two to three overs before that we would be finishing at 5pm, so I tried my best, but I couldn’t quite make it.”

“I should have tried to make up for it before that point, but I was happy to be not out.”

“It was amazing standing out in the field watching those guys, especially the likes of Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, who’s one of my heros and just being able to see how they go about things was quality. Hopefully I can learn from it and it will be a good series between them and England, that’s for sure.”

If the South African side didn’t know much about Bell-Drummond before they arrived at Canterbury, they know a lot more now with Kallis in particular learning fast at how much quality the eighteen year old has, as his first over went for three boundaries:

“I just tried to play the ball and not the man I guess,” said Bell-Drummond. “I’d be lying if I wasn’t playing the man rather than the ball sometimes, especially when someone like Morne Morkel was steaming in and I got a bit shivery sometimes, but I tried to zone in on the ball and play with instinct.”

For lesser mortals that have never faced the raw pace of someone like Steyn or Morkel it is hard to imagine what it’s like and Bell-Drummond tried to explain it:

“I don’t think I can really explain it. I was really nervous and I’ve watched them a lot on TV destroying batsmen and I was quite scared at times, especially in the mornings, knowing I was going to face these guys, but when it got to the heat of the moment, my instincts just cut in.”

“I was glad I was able to face that standard of bowling and I got through it. Obviously for them it was a warm up game, but it was great to face bowlers of that quality and hopefully I can move forward.”

“I wasn’t going to push far forward to Morkel as he’d probably hit me on the head, so ducking was just natural. I think the way I play, although I’m confident on the front foot, I like playing on the back foot and luckily it came off for me.”

Bell-Drummond put on two great opening stands alongside stand in skipper Sam Northeast, with the pair putting on an unbeaten 105 in the second innings and the batsman explained how much help the former England Under 19 batsman had been to him out in the middle:

“He was brilliant. I’ve played with him now for the last couple of years and he’s been brilliant for me. He’s helped my game a lot and he’s improved.”

“The difference between opening in second team cricket and then facing Morkel and Steyn is massive, but I’m glad to say we got through it and I was really happy for him as well.”

Without a doubt, Bell-Drummond has all the attributes to go on and have a hugely successful career both with Kent and England.

At just eighteen, he is already showing the quality and temperament to go far in the game.