GARETH Batty admitted to having a 'fantastic feeling' when told he was one of three new caps drafted into the 13-man England squad for the third Test against South Africa which opens at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

The Worcestershire off-spinner was given the news by the County's director of cricket Tom Moody shortly before the start of Saturday's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy semi-final against Lancashire.

Batty, who played two one-day internationals for England in Australia during the winter, said: "Tom called me to one side. I thought I had done something wrong and then he said 'you're in the squad' and it was a fantastic feeling.

"Tom has been brilliant with me and I think I've been improving as a cricketer with every game I play.

"The Academy in the winter was also brilliant for me. That was a great learning curve. You learn about areas of your game you need to work on.

"It was also brilliant to have a taste of things in the VB Series involving Sri Lanka and Australia. Some people said 'you could have done with getting a chance against someone other than the best in the world in Australia'. But my attitude was 'you know what you've got to achieve now'.

"I've come back this season and carried on working hard, trying to carry on improving things and now I've got a call-up."