TO represent your country is the greatest of honours - and Matthew Marchant and Steve Robertson have cherished every moment of their careers with the England indoor junior side.

Both Hampshire bowlers go into the annual Bernard Telfer Trophy match against Wales at Prestatyn this Sunday with the same buzz as when they first gained international honours, their debuts being as long ago as the 1997-1998 campaign.

Marchant said: "It is a great feeling going on to the green for England - and it's one that doesn't leave you. I remember for my first match I was very nervous - I was only 16 and had only been playing for three years and I went in at the deep end.

"In those days we only had the six-rink match against Wales but that was the probably the best junior side I have played in because we had the likes of Robert Newman, Nicky Brett and Nicky Jones."

The fact that they made their international bows at the same time was fitting as they both began playing bowls in the early 1990s. Bitten by the bug they played day after day during one summer and carried on through the winter by joining Victory.

The rest is history - but that is not the full extent of the story as the pair have worked consistently hard at their game to aspire to under-25 international heights.

"The secret for them both is dedication - and practice, practice and more practice," said Robertson's proud dad, Keith, who points out that his 24-year-old son has qualified for the national stages of the English Indoor BA Championships every year since 1998.

Marchant, a 23-year-old specialist lead, has been an England choice every year since his debut - and if selected next season in his final year he will beat the record of East Dorset's Kevin Cousins as the most capped England indoor under-25 bowler.

Robertson, after playing for three winters, missed out on the next three when he was tried as a back-end player, something he was not ready for.

At international level he is happier at the front-end and he is at two at Prestatyn for Kent's Shaun McCaughan. Marchant leads for Teeside skip Paul Mosley in the four-rink match.

This winter Robertson has already secured the bonus of reaching the first round proper of the valuable Welsh Masters at Llanelli in February while two years ago Marchant qualified for the World Championship singles at Potters, Norfolk.

Both helped Hampshire win the Liberty Trophy in 1999 and get through to the under-25 double rink championship final at Melton Mowbray last April.

That was Robertson's county junior swansong but though the age qualification date rules him out of under-25 action for Hampshire, he is still eligible for England - and aims to take full advantage by going out not only as a winner of the Telfer Trophy but also the British Isles Junior International Series in the new year at Prestwick, Scotland.

Marchant has caught the international selectors' eyes outdoors too and made his England debut in 2001, a year after a sizzling summer when he snapped up the Hampshire pairs, triples and fours titles that gave him a busy time at Worthing.

Last season's indoor series was a great thrill for the Victory duo as it was staged on their own doorstep at Palmerston.

The let-down was finishing runners-up to Wales and that is why Sunday's match is more significant than usual.

The Hampshire pair know that a win would give the Three Lions a psychological lift in their quest to regain the British crown they won in 2000, the season the series started.