LANCASHIRE coach Ashley Giles has revealed he has changed his opinion on Bolton batting star Haseeb Hameed – he expects him to play for England earlier than he thought!

Giles is far from shy when it comes to dishing out the plaudits for the 19-year-old ex-Farnworth Social Circle opener.

The Red Rose cricket director and head coach has not hidden his belief that Hameed will play for England one day.

But, publicly, he has never put a timeframe on it.

Privately, he has, however, while speaking off the record to journalists earlier this summer.

And speaking in the official programme for England’s Test against Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford, he has now revealed: “I said I thought that he would play for England within four years, but I think it’ll be earlier than that now.

“It is early days, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to play for England.

“I wouldn’t want him to get so that he can’t get his head through the door, but I think he has that temperament and the desire to keep getting better and better.

“The best thing about him is that he loves batting.

“That should be obvious for a batsman, but in the way that he judges situations and assesses the percentages of getting out.

“You can tell that he has that desire to bat for long periods, and he just loves his work.”

Hameed, in his maiden season of Division One cricket, has proved to be a dream for the statisticians.

He became the youngest Lancashire player to post 1,000 Championship runs in a season aged 19 years and 212 days and the fifth youngest in all. He also became the youngest Lancastrian to post two hundreds in the same match against any opponent, the first to do it against Yorkshire and only the third for either side in this particular fixture.

The right-hander is also the youngest player to register centuries in both innings of a first-class match played in England and he is also the first teenage opener to post four hundreds in a County Championship season, with the likes of Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick and Rob Key posting two.

His game is built around defence, and it is fascinating to watch him go about his business.

“Haseeb is a real technician, and in many respects quite old-fashioned in the way he bats,” said Giles.

“He’s not – and this is no disrespect to them – a modern basher. He has a real art in the way he bats. It’s good to see.

“He’s not huge in stature, but he has confidence in way he plays. There are still areas in which he can improve, and you can be pretty sure that he will find ways to improve.

“He is someone who has worked very closely with his father (Ismail) in the past and still does.

“He has a really strong bond with his dad as a coach, but he’ll also work it out himself because he’s bright and cricket bright.

“He’ll find a way to score runs because that’s what he loves doing.”