Lancashire duo named in Young Lions squad for Sri Lanka and Pakistan
Two Lancashire players have been named in an 18-player squad for the England Young Lions’ tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Wicket-keeper Joe Moores and bowling all-rounder Luke Hands have both been named in the sqaud for the winter tours. They will take part in a training camp in Sri Lanka before playing four matches in Pakistan before Christmas.
The Young Lions will face Pakistan U19s Men in three Youth ODIs and a Youth Test at Rawalpindi in December. The majority of the squad will begin the tour with a training camp in Colombo, Sri Lanka from November 19-30.
Neil Killeen will step in as Head Coach for the Young Lions’ winter programme with the team also set to tour Australia in January.
England U19s Men squad (18 players):
Ralphie Albert (Surrey – Captain)
Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire)
Subhaan Ali (Yorkshire)
Robbie Bowman (Durham)
Tom Bradley (Yorkshire)
Thomas Edwards (Glamorgan)
Luke Hands (Lancashire)
Theo Lamey (Somerset)
Manny Lumsden (Hampshire)**
Bertie Michael (Somerset)
Isaac Mohammad (Worcestershire)
Joe Moores (Lancashire)
Jack Nelson (Middlesex)
Leo Selvey-Clinton (Kent)
Marley Simpson (Surrey)*
Luke Symington (Durham)*
Charlie Taylor (Warwickshire)**
Jeet Varaich (Worcestershire)
*Sri Lanka training camp only
**Pakistan tour only
Both Hands and Moores were part of the Young Lions squad for the World Cup at the start of the year, and featured over the summer. Hands played in the Youth Test and took seven wickets in three games in the ODI series in September, with Moores featuring in both series in a busy month for him, when he also played for England Lions.
Ralphie Albert will captain the team, with Farhan Ahmed vice-captain.
Worcestershire left-arm seamer Jeet Varaich earns his first-ever Young Lions call-up while uncapped Marley Simpson and Lyke Symington will join the squad only for the training camp in Sri Lanka.
Charlie Taylor and Manny Lumsden will meet up with the squad in Rawalpindi and will be managed on individual programmes for developing fast bowlers.
Killeen, who steps into interim charge after Mike Yardy’s appointment as Elite National Batting Lead, will be supported by a coaching team of Joe Denly, Steve Mullaney and former Lancashire fast bowler Kyle Hogg.
England U19s Men's head coach, Neil Killeen, said: “I am really looking forward to leading an exciting group of young players and coaches across their winter programme.
“This is an opportunity for these young players to experience new countries and conditions and for our coaching team to help develop their game in a world-class environment, which will only help in their journey towards international cricket.
“Sri Lanka is an excellent venue for our training camp, where we can build towards what we know will be a tough contest in Pakistan following our series in the summer."
England U19s Men – schedule
November 19-30: Training Camp in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
December 5: 1st Youth ODI v Pakistan U19s Men, Rawalpindi
December 7: 2nd Youth ODI v Pakistan U19s Men, Rawalpindi
December 9: 3rd Youth ODI v Pakistan U19s Men, Rawalpindi
December 13-16: 1st Youth Test v Pakistan U19s Men, Rawalpindi