THREE Wycombe hockey players are hoping for good news this week after attending the final session of England trials last weekend.

Sam Burroughs and Noah Sharples are hoping for a place in the England U18s training squad while their Wycombe HC team-mate, Liam Sanford, is crossing his fingers for a place in the U16s squad.

The three have already survived the first and second rounds of cuts, following training sessions and then matches, and last weekend they took their place in the Mercia squad for matches against the Pennine Pumas (North), Saxon Tigers (East) and Wessex Leopards (South West), in front of the England selectors.

For Burroughs this would be his England breakthrough, but Sanford and Sharples were both part of the U16s set-up last year.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, Dave Oatley is still in Singapore representing the England Masters.

With so many players unavailable last weekend, Wycombe postponed their South Hockey League Premier 2 match with Lewes last weekend.

They are back in action tomorrow though, hoping to continue their impressive form since inspirational player/coach Duncan Parnis left the club in the close season.

Parnis, a previous Coach of the Year winner, made the move to Ipswich but, despite fearing the worst, Wycombe have continued to flourish.

A former Olympian replaced Parnis as coach while the young talent at the club has chipped in to make up for his goals.

First team manager Andy Burroughs said: “Duncan was consistenly the top scorer for the last four years so it was a concern where the goals would come from.

“But it’s been going surprisingly well. Our top three scorers this season are all U18s and the last couple of results have been good.”

Josh Mardell, Sam Burroughs and Liam Answell are the three sharp-shooters stepping up, while Kali Takher, a former England player and represented Great Britain at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, is their new coach.

Under his guidance, Wycombe have won three of their four league matches and would be second had they played and beaten Lewes last weekend.

On Saturday they take on Gore Court, one point and one place above them having played a game more.