Cornish kid is high flyer

A Cornish teenager, already compared by his club to Jonny Wilkinson, achieved the rare distinction yesterday of gaining England recognition without having set foot in the Premiership.

Ollie Barkley, the fly-half fulcrum of Colston's victory in the Daily Mail Schools' Cup final last March, takes his place as the youngest member of England's development squad at the age of 18 but not for long.

He is due to leave for New Zealand soon with Bath's blessing and will not be back until next season. 'Ollie is a super player who is really going to hit the big time,' said Bath coach Jon Callard. 'I think he is as good as Jonny Wilkinson was at his age and that's saying something because Wilkinson was something special even then.' Barkley is due to train alongside England's Six Nations squad next week.

'He is going away fairly soon and will not be back until next June,' said Callard. 'Ollie has explained his reasons for wanting to go to New Zealand and he goes with our blessing. He will be back next year because he is under contract.' Five other likely lads have also been added to England's list of potential internationals - David Walder, Wilkinson's understudy at Newcastle, Newport's powerful flanker Peter Buxton, Leeds lock Tom Palmer plus the Gloucester forwards Andy Hazell and Adam Eustace.