THE Royal London One-Day Cup is well underway with Hampshire currently sitting fourth in Group A, hoping to go one better than last year when they lost in the final.

The ODC squad includes 18 year old academy player Eddie Jack, dubbed one to keep an eye on in the ECB’s official tournament preview.

It is Jack's second ODC campaign but this summer saw the fast-medium bowler make his debut in the T20 Blast and take part in the First Class Counties XI vs West Indies match.

Jack insisted: "Making my T20 debut was a really nice moment, I had my mum and dad there, and that was special.

"That whole week, then going straight up to the Oval, which was my favourite experience of those three games, playing in front of 25,000 people.

“That was a step up for sure, but something I felt happy to be able to perform well in and to get a taste of that going forward, now looking forward to playing more in the Blast next year hopefully.”

The bowler praised Hampshire’s wealth of talent and supportive environment as the key to his growth: “It's tough to single out one person.

"I think it's a huge credit to the whole support network at Hampshire, all the guys have helped massively with my bowling. It’s just a really encouraging, enthusiastic environment.

"Having an absolute arsenal of experienced fast bowlers to gleam information and learn from, it’s a pretty unique opportunity to be around those guys so consistently.”

Having joined the academy in 2021, Jack has gone from strength to strength, and in 2022 received a call-up to the England under-19 squad.

Now approaching his third winter with the national team, the youngster is preparing for two tours of South Africa under head coach Michael Yardy.

Jack turns 19 this September and, while he remains focused on his improvement and taking things game-by-game, one aspiration stands clear in his mind.

He explained: “I suppose every cricketer's answer is The Ashes. That would be the absolute dream to get my hands on that.

“Especially because I was born in 2005, which is obviously a very famous series, and my middle name is named after Michael Vaughan.

"I’m Edward Vaughan Jack. So, The Ashes always had a bit of extra sentiment for that, having been born in September just after we had won.”