WORCESTERSHIRE opener Stephen Moore has begun his England journey determined not to let it end next month.

The 28-year-old heads off to India today as part of the England Performance Programme (EPP) squad for a three-week tour.

Moore’s call into the EPP set-up is recognition for his best-ever first class campaign which score him score 1,451 runs — more than everyone else in the country.

Now as he flies out to Mumbai the South African-born batsman is determined to make the most of this opportunity presented to him.

“For me this is the next step — it is not the last step by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.

“I realise that this is some kind of recognition from the selectors for the season I have had and it is down to me now.”

Should Moore impress during his time on sub-continent then he would be in pole position to make that next step.

The England Lions squad is set to be announced just bef-ore Christmas for a six-game tour to New Zealand in February and March.

But Moore is also hoping that his performances with the EPP well also help the England squad already out in India.

“There are a few pairs of eyes watching me and if I can do what I do as well as I possibly can, hopefully I will be putting pressure on those guys in the England squad,” he said.

“If I do well now, then that ambition of playing for England, which I would love to do more than anything else now in my career, might come true.

“If I’m playing well and putting pressure on those guys, they’ll realise they have to play well and by doing that their levels of performance should go up and consequently so should England’s.

“It’s a chain-reaction and I’m happy to be a big part of that now.”

Moore will be joined on the tour by former England captain Michael Vaughan, and while the duo will be battling it out for a spot in the EPP team, the New Road batsman is hoping he can learn from the Yorkshireman.

Vaughan is hoping that the EPP tour will help propel him back into form ahead of next summer’s Ashes series.

“I haven’t had much chance to talk to him — he has only been here a couple of days,” Moore added. “When we go out to India I’m sure that I’ll get the chance to speak to him about his career and the challenges he has had.”