JOE Clarke has the chance to further press his England claims after being included in the North squad for the trio of 50-over matches with the South in the UAE in March.

The Worcestershire batsman has already been selected for the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka in February and early March.

Now the 20-year-old will have an opportunity to impress England head coach Trevor Bayliss and national selector James Whitaker.

Otis Gibson and Paul Farbrace, senior members of the England coaching staff, will lead the North and South sides respectively.

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes believes Clarke can boost his England ambitions with impressive performances for the Lions and the North during the second half of the winter.

He said: “I’m delighted and it is well deserved. He is the best young batsman in the country so to have another stage, as well as the Lions, to show his potential and his class will be really good for his future.

“Joe is desperate to become a full England international and the Lions form, as well as getting some runs in the North versus South games, I think will go a long way towards him achieving his ambition of playing for England.”

Clarke and his Lions team-mates will head direct to Dubai from Sri Lanka at the end of the Lions tour.

The squads will gather ahead of warm-up matches on March 15 with the first two games of the series at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 17 and 19 before it concludes at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on March 21.

North: K Jennings (Durham, capt), B Duckett (Northamptonshire Steelbacks), S Hain (Warwickshire), J Clarke (Worcestershire Rapids), L Livingstone (Lancashire Lightning), J Leaning (Yorkshire Vikings), T Bresnan (Yorkshire Vikings), J Poysden (Warwickshire), G White (Northamptonshire Steelbacks), M Wood (Durham), S Mahmood (Lancashire Lightning), R Gleeson (Northamptonshire Steelbacks), H Gurney (Notts Outlaws).

South: J Vince (Hampshire, capt), D Bell-Drummond (Kent Spitfires), T Alsop (Hampshire), D Malan (Middlesex), S Northeast (Kent Spitfires), L Dawson (Hampshire), B Foakes (Surrey), T Curran (Surrey), L Gregory (Somerset), T Groenewald (Somerset), M Coles (Kent Spitfires), S Finn (Middlesex), M Crane (Hampshire).