Over the years, the county cricket system has come under fire for not being able to maintain quality supply line to the top-level cricket in England. But recent months have seen the emergence of some promising youngsters like Joe Denley, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresanan from the county academies.

Luke Wright too has been counted among the same breed, and he underlined his potential as a hard-hitting next generation all-rounder — multi-skilled cricketer as John Buchanan termed it once — when he smashed 40-ball 56 against India in a practice game for the England Lions.

The manner in which he amassed his runs was quite impressive, perhaps a prelude to the bigger things the 22-year-old Leicestershire youngster will go on to achieve in the future.

"It was disappointing to get out at that stage. I would have loved to have got on and use the next powerplay as well. Obviously, a few nerves were there in the beginning, but you have to cope with them. I backed myself, and Vik (Vikram Solanki) said, 'just go out there and enjoy," Wright said.

Wright had certainly enjoyed his time out in the middle, but Munaf Patel might not have enjoyed it that much. The Indian paceman conceded 16 runs in his first over as Wright smashed him for three boundaries in succession.

Wright said it was not a deliberate ploy to lay into Patel. "It was not a plan. Obviously, you will play the ball by merit against such a good attack. It wasn't a direct approach, but I just tried to put pressure on them," Wright, who has bagged the prestigious Dennis Compton medal three times, said.

The Lions skipper Vikram Solanki too heaped praise on the youngster. "Wright was brilliant. I have had the pleasure of playing with him on an 'A' tour. He struck the ball cleanly and that put Indian bowlers under pressure. It is nice to see the young faces come and do the job straightaway against an international team," Solanki said.