Jason Roy's bid to be an England hit

Jason Roy may have been born in Durban to South African parents but will be looking to enhance his England prospects when Surrey face Middlesex in the Friends Life T20 at The Oval tonight.

Only 22 games into his county career, Roy has already registered a first-class century as well as Surrey's first ever Twenty20 ton.

Should the 20-year-old continue his rate of progress, the national selectors will, no doubt, consider parachuting Roy into the squad for next year's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

With South-African born Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter and Jade Dernbach as well as Irishman Eoin Morgan all around the England set-up, the addition of Roy would spark further accusations that the national team are becoming too 'foreign'. But Rory said: "I pretty much learned all my cricket over here, so I'm not like Pietersen and I don't think people should have a problem with it at all.

"My ambition is to play for England absolutely. I've lived here 11 years so I can't say I am fully English, but I want to play for England, not South Africa. Hopefully, that day will come if I work hard on my game."

Roy has been taking advantage of team-mate Pietersen's intermittent visits to the Surrey dressing room to pick up tips on how to best hone his skills in all forms of the game.

"I've picked at his brains a few times about the way he plays," said Roy. "He's a big role model."