SHERIFF Hutton Bridge star Matthew Fisher has described his immense pride at being appointed as England’s under-19s captain for the one-day leg of their tour of India next month.

The 19-year-old may have endured a miserable summer, with a series of hamstring injuries preventing him from playing a single first-team match for Yorkshire.

But now his year has ended on a high note with the news that he will play for the under 19s for the first time since 2014 when they travel to Mumbai late next month.

Fisher, who debuted for his country aged 15 in 2013, has only just returned from Australia, where he spent two months playing grade cricket for Adelaide.

“It was a bit of a special early Christmas present,” he said.

“I had a word with David Graveney (the under 19s chairman of selectors), and I had no hesitation in accepting the job.

“It’s a huge honour captaining your country.”

After taking 17 wickets in 12 matches for Adelaide in first grade and one-day and Twenty20 cricket, Fisher is now confident his injury troubles are behind him.

“Australia was a massive plus for me, getting back and bowling,” he said, describing the standard of cricket as close to that of county second-team level.

“I bowled quite a lot out there and was able to trust my body a bit more.

“I got through 20 overs one day, which was really good in 30 degrees heat. At the end of that day there was relief, and I felt like I’d finally got over the injury. India is going to help that as well.

“I put my body through a lot in Oz and gave it my all.

“Being part of a touring side will be great again given I was just on my own at Adelaide.

“The lads there were great, but it’s going to be good being around that professional environment again.

“I’m also looking forward to passing on some experience to the younger lads in the squad who I haven’t met or seen play before.”

Fisher will captain in five one-day matches, starting January 30, before handing over the leadership to Middlesex opening batsman Max Holden for two four-day matches in Chennai.

The tour forms part of a busy winter for the teenager, who is now concentrating purely on cricket after finishing his A-Level studies earlier this year.

“I was talking to my brother about this,” he added.

“Winter’s usually drag a bit, but I’ll have been away before Christmas, then to India. Not long after we get back, it will be Yorkshire’s pre-season tour.

“Hopefully this winter goes quickly and I can hit the ground running at the start of the season and maybe give Andrew Gale something to think about in terms of a place in the side.”

Yorkshire’s Harry Brook has also been selected in the squad, with Graveney adding: “It is a major boost to have the ability and experience of Matthew Fisher back in the squad.

“He was a key figure in England’s success in the 2014 ICC under 19s World Cup in Dubai, and after he was affected by injuries in the 2016 summer this is a good opportunity for him to test himself against his contemporaries in different conditions in India.”