Archie Vaughan is following in the footsteps of his father, Michael, after being named as England Under-19 captain. Vaughan senior led his country in 51 Tests, including the Ashes triumph of 2005, but first captained his country at under-19 level in 1993-94. Archie, who broke into the Somerset side as an all-rounder last season, has now been handed the same honour for the tour of South Africa.

His side will take on the Proteas in three Youth ODIs and two Youth Tests in Cape Town and Stellenbosch between 17 January and 6 February.

“To get the opportunity to represent England at this level is really special in itself, but to lead the team out is something else,” said the 19-year-old. “If someone had told me 12 months ago that I would have forced my way into the Somerset first team and be captaining the under-19s, I wouldn’t have believed them.

“It’s happened quickly but I’m going to keep my feet on the ground and work harder and harder. The next step is to try and win in South Africa and hopefully I can perform as well.”

The 18-man squad is overseen by the head coach, Michael Yardy, and includes the 16-year-old off-spinner Farhan Ahmed, younger brother of Rehan, Warwickshire’s highly rated leg-spinner Tazeem Ali and the Durham pace bowler James Minto.