Pace ace Andy Carter continues his England development

A leaner, meaner Andy Carter believes his stint with the England Performance Squad has made him a better player ahead of the 2010 campaign.

The 20-year-old Nottinghamshire pace bowler has returned from South Africa where he trained with England's most promising young players.

Carter's three weeks at the squad's training base in Pretoria featured intensive training, net bowling at England's Test batsman and even a spot of rock climbing with national wicketkeeping coach Bruce French.

"On the penultimate day, I went rock climbing with Bruce," recalled Carter, who is from Bardney, near Lincoln.

"We got up at 5am and went to a place about an hour outside Pretoria.

"Bruce is really into that. He's an absolute loon, but a great guy. Only three of us went, but I absolutely loved it.

"The whole trip was great, I got a lot out of it."

Carter worked with coaches Lloyd Tennant, of Leicestershire, and former England Test spinner Peter Such, who urged the former Lincolnshire bowler to add more speed to his already rapid bowling.

"We were up at 6.45am every morning doing fitness work and fat burning. It was very intense," said Carter, who has been tipped to play for England by Lincolnshire coach Mark Fell.

"They just want me to bowl fast all the time. I do bowl like that in spells, but not all the time.

I've lengthened my run up so by the time I get to the crease I'm sprinting.

"It took a while for me to get my head round it, but I think it will help my game.

"I had some decent feedback from the coaches, although they said I'm too hard on myself. But I'm my own worst critic, that's always the way I've been."

For more on this story see today's Lincolnshire Echo.