Kent left-arm seamer Adam Ball heads to Bangladesh with the England under-19s on Thursday with the aim of increasing his stock as a genuine all-rounder.

Ball captains a 15-man squad that includes Kent team-mate Daniel Bell-Drummond for a seven match one-day international series in Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet.

The 18-year-old has led the side in their last two series, against Sri Lanka last January and South Africa in the summer, and is looking forward to the responsibility of leading his country on the sub-continent.

He said: "It’s going to be a real challenge to experience the sub-continent wickets and the lifestyle there.

"I want to go there and express myself and find a way of being successful and come back with a series win.

"It’s quite an achievement to be named captain of a team and it’s a nice feeling to be charged with leading a group of players, especially with the group we have.

"It’s a massive learning curve for me. The captaincy role will benefit my game massively in terms of thinking about the game much more and how I deal with tactics."

Ball was undoubtedly the find of last season for Kent, particularly in limited overs cricket, where he proved to be reliable with the ball.

However, the Greenwich-born seamer struggled with bat and that is an area he is looking to improve in a bid to creep up Kent’s batting order next season.

He said: "I was pleased with how it went last season. It was probably a bit unexpected but I worked hard throughout the season and learned from my mistakes. What I was most pleased about was how I bounced back from those mistakes and carried on growing.

"I’m looking to be a genuine all-rounder that comes on first change with the ball and is a No.6 or No.7 batter."