SOMERSET captain Marcus Trescothick has been leading the praise for team-mate Craig Kieswetter, who smashed a superb 143 on his England debut in Bangladesh earlier this week.

"I'm delighted for him and he seems to be just going from strength to strength," said Trescothick of the 22-year-old. "His first game with the main England team has just shown everybody that he has got the expertise to go onto the next level.

"Hopefully, he has still got some more runs in the bank going into the one-day Internationals at the weekend and he that can repeat this sort of performance."

The emergence of the South African-born wicket-keeper onto the England scene has certainly been swift. And although Kieswetter was not used in his normal role behind the stumps on Tuesday in Fatullah, Trescothick believes he still has a major role to play in the future.

"I think he will be played as a specialist batsman to begin with," said Trescothick. "They owe it to Matt Prior to give him the opportunity because he has done pretty well for them coming in lower in the order and getting quick runs. My opinion is that they will probably swap Joe Denly for Craig and if he has fought his way into the England one-day side, there is a good chance that he will make the Twenty20 side, which is what I expect to happen."

However, if Kieswetter continues his meteoric rise through the cricketing ranks this will have implications back at the County Ground where he enjoyed a hugely successful season in 2009.

Trescothick said: "Although we are obviously delighted that we want to send people up to the England level, we then obviously miss out on their talents here – just like I did for six or seven years.

"This is, however, a great opportunity for Craig and also a great chance for young Jos Buttler who will come into the team and keep because he will be a straight replacement for him."

Meanwhile, four Somerset players James Burke, Robin Lett, Michael Munday and Mark Turner are flying to Johannesburg at the weekend to spend two weeks pre-season training with former County Ground run machine Jimmy Cook.