During this time he also briefly attended Dulwich College in south London to further his cricketing education and it was here that his ambition to play for England began. He represented Ireland's youth teams and was capped at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 level, eventually he became Ireland's youngest senior international. He spent a number of summer spells with Middlesex's under-age setup. He was selected in the Irish under-19 squad for the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and was Ireland's top run-scorer in the competition.