JOE Clarke has had to shelve plans to return to play grade cricket in Australia — for at least the first half of this winter — because of his England Lions call-up.

The Worcestershire batsman-wicketkeeper had been earmarked to return to play for South Perth.

Clarke enjoyed a successful first campaign Down Under, scoring one ton against Joondalup and six half-centuries while earning praise from South Perth director of cricket Dirk Bevilaqua.

But instead his fine form after breaking into the Worcestershire side in late June means he will next month be part of a Lions batting camp before flying out to the UAE for the five-match T20 series against Pakistan A the following month.

A new Lions squad will then be selected for five ODIs against the same opposition in the new year.

Clarke, 19, said: “The trip to Perth is off. I won’t be able to go before Christmas because of the Lions commitments which I am really looking forward to.

“You then have to get reselected by the Lions for the (50 over) matches after Christmas and if I’m not reselected for that then I’ll probably go over to Australia for a couple of months before we come back for pre-season.

“But the ambition is to get selected for the Lions 50-over games as well.”

Clarke has made the transition from England Under-19s into the Lions set-up after a splendid second half of the season at New Road.

He said: “I think I am the only one from my under-19s age group to go up into the Lions squad this time.

“But, having Ross (Whiteley) there and Bumpy (Steve Rhodes) as well, it will be good.”

Meanwhile, Clarke praised the contribution of Whiteley in white and red-ball cricket for Worcestershire and said he “fully deserves” his first Lions call-up.

Whiteley, who has represented England in the Hong Kong Sixes, sparkled in the short format of the game for Rapids and helped them reach the quarter-finals of last summer’s NatWest T20 Blast.

But the former Derbyshire player, who has signed a new four-year contract at New Road, also showed his capabilities in four-day cricket during the latter stages of last season.

Clarke added: “The T20 stuff came along and Ross expressed himself and showed all the county cricketers in England what a dangerous player he was.

“I was doing 12th-man duties for the T20 match with Yorkshire at Headingley and that was an incredible innings (91 not out off 35 balls).

“But he also came back into the four-day side and got a great 100 playing up at Scarborough.

“He had some other 60s and 70s and in the one-day stuff (Royal London One-Day Cup) he had some great knocks as well.

“Ross is a brilliant cricketer and thoroughly deserves the recognition he has received with the Lions.”