MAN from Down Under Paul Horton believes a strong summer can help him achieve his aims of getting England representative honours – and reckons he can flourish in the pressure cooker environment of a Lancashire Championship charge.

The Sydney-born 27-year-old, who moved to Liverpool to start his cricketing career, is establish-ed at the top order for the Red Rose and he hopes another good summer can push him towards representative honours.

“It’s definitely exciting,” he said. “I am really looking forward to the season and looking for good things.

“I am continually working on things and trying to improve my game and now I am looking to replicate my First Class form in one day cricket.

“If I can marry the two formats together and score runs in both then maybe I can look towards getting onto an England tour over the winter. That is a big aim.”

Horton knows that a strong summer is the only way to achieve that – and is aware that a push towards the coveted County Championship title is the best way forward.

“We want to win the title,” he said. “That’s the pinnacle for me and for the rest of the lads and also for everyone playing professional cricket.

“Obviously we will take the Twenty20 with all the riches – but we would love the County Championship.

“We are aware of how much that means to the support but we as players can’t do anything about the 70-odd years.

“There is a lot of history at Lancashire and that’s nice for players.

"You want to play at a big club as a professional sportsman.

"Yes we are aware of the history and expectation and how much cricket means to everyone in Lancashire - and believe me, it means a lot to all of us as well.”