THE Oaks Golf Club ace James Walker has been named in the England team to take on France in next week’s biennial international – when he will aim to follow in the footsteps of US Masters champion Danny Willett.

The 22-year-old - the son of England coach Graham Walker, who is the professional at The Oaks, near Aughton to the south east of York - was picked after winning this season’s Selborne Salver and reaching the semi-finals of the Spanish Amateur Championship, losing to the eventual champion only on the 19th hole.

He was also sixth at the weekend’s Lytham Trophy, where his second round 66 was the best of the championship.

The international match, to be held at Formby Golf Club, Lancashire, over the weekend of May 14 and 15, sees leading England amateurs take on their French counterparts.

Willett - who also has strong links with The Oaks having been coached by Walker senior - starred in the corresponding match in 2008, sealing his final day singles with five successive birdies. The Yorkshireman won the famous Green Jacket at last month's Masters.

Chris Wood, Tommy Fleetwood, Eddie Pepperell, Tom Lewis and Jean van de Velde have also previously graced this competition.

This year's eight-strong England line-up comprises Jamie Bower of Yorkshire, Scott Gregory of Hampshire, Josh Hilleard of Somerset, Paul Kinnear of Lancashire, Bradley Moore of Derbyshire, Alfie Plant of Kent, Ashton Turner of Lincolnshire and Walker junior, whose form last year saw him win the 2015 Waterford Trophy and finish runner-up in the Tillman Trophy and third in the North of England Youth Championship.

Bower, Hilleard, Plant and Walker are all recent winners – with Plant impressively taking the honours in the Lytham Trophy at the weekend.

Three of the team – Bower, Moore and Gregory - are in the world top 50 with Turner not far behind. Hilleard, who won four times in 22 days in April, moved up more than 100 places in the rankings in one week.

They will play the French line-up of Edgar Catherine, Ugo Coussaud, Andoni Etchenique, Jeong Weon Ko, Adrien Pendaries, Pierre Pineau, Grégoire Schoeb and Victor Veyret. Coussaud tied second in the Lytham Trophy.

The fixture dates back to 1934 and England have won 28 of the matches so far, conceding just five. The French team were last successful in 2010 in Chantilly.

The match consists of four foursomes and eight singles on each day and spectators are welcome to watch the action unfold at Formby, one of the world’s great links courses.

The club has hosted the Amateur Championship on four occasions producing winners including Jose Maria Olazabal and Matteo Manassero. However this is the first time that the England versus France match has been played there.