Barton on enjoying over-60s England bubble

"You're just in the bubble, any sports person will tell you that. You just do what you do and presumably if you're doing well maybe you get a chance, if there is a chance to promote you go on. That's what's happened to me."

Being called up to represent your country in any sport is a huge honour.

But when we think about being called up, we might assume that sport is a young person's game.

Not so for Ian Barton, who at the age of 62 is preparing to represent England in a World Cup in Canada - but in the Over-60s Cricket World Cup rather than the ongoing football competition.

"I fly out on 5 August with a 16-man squad to try and win the World Cup," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I've got back into cricket for Lancashire and obviously loving it. I'm doing OK, scoring quite a few runs so I'm enjoying doing what I do."

Barton's pathway to playing for his country in a World Cup has happened quite quickly by his own admission.

"This time two years ago I was batting low down in the second team for Lancashire Over-60s and two years hence, I've captained the England Lions a few weeks ago," he added.

"And now I've been picked for the England main team to go to the World Cup, so it's all a bit mind-blowing I suppose."

Blackburn-born Barton is no stranger to cricket, having represented Longridge Cricket Club's first team for 37 years from 1981 to 2018.

His association with the club also saw him take on the role of chairman and more recently vice-president.

Yet he returned to cricket in a senior capacity more recently and was surprised that he had not lost his ability in the game.

"You're in an environment that you've always loved with people that think the same as you," he continued.

"I didn't want to play any more on a Saturday [in senior men's cricket] because I'm stopping a younger man playing cricket and without younger men you've no cricket club in years to come.

"But just to be able to play again and surprise myself actually. I have surprised myself to a degree of how many runs I've got and how I've done."

England's squad will spend 20 days in Canada and kick off their trip with a practice match against Canada before facing Scotland, West Indies, Zimbabwe, United States, India and New Zealand.

After that series, the semi-finals and a possible final would follow.

It is not just the sporting element which is important, however, it is the impact that returning the game has made to his mental health.

"It's the banter and everything in a dressing room and that's what you miss. You miss the game, in a way. You miss the atmosphere, the banter, the craic in the dressing room," Barton added.

"It's just the same when you've got a load of guys the same age as you as it was when you were 20-odd, because they were 20-odd back then weren't they?

"It just gives you a new lease of life. I'm doing a lot of travelling with Lancashire and with England. You don't mind it because you could be driving that for a job but you're driving to play a sport that you love and people that you get on great with.

"Mentally it is the best thing ever. At my age now to still do this is just mind-blowing really."