Bell-Drummond and Billings in England Lions tri-series squad
Friday 8th July 2016
Kent duo Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Billings have been selected for the England Lions squad to play a 50-over Tri-Series against the A-teams of Pakistan and Sri Lanka later this month.
The Kent Cricket Academy graduates could feature in the final two matches of the series at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Sunday 24 July and Monday 25 July (10.30am starts).
Click here to book tickets to see England Lions at Canterbury
England Test bowler Mark Wood has been added to the squad as he continues his recovery from ankle surgery and the fitness of Somerset bowler Jamie Overton is being monitored after sustaining a back injury in the Specsavers County Championship this week.
National Selector James Whitaker said: “The Lions play a key role in our development of international cricketers, and we believe this is an exciting squad.
“There is a balance of players who have represented the Lions before, with a few new faces for the future who we feel will benefit from the experience of and exposure to Lions cricket.
“We also had to be respectful to the counties who have important domestic fixtures, while again balancing that with our own competitiveness, and making sure we can perform well.”
Andy Flower, who will again be the head coach, said: “It is important for the Lions to play home matches in the summer as well as touring during the winter for a number of reasons, and we are grateful to the counties for recognising that if we are going to reap the benefits of playing abroad in the winter, we have to offer the equivalent opportunity to the developing cricketers of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
“We’ve had quite a large transition from last winter’s Lions squad to the national side, and that means we will have a much younger group this summer. That is going to make this a challenging series against some experienced cricketers from Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but it will provide a great opportunity for our young players to test themselves.”
England Lions squad for Tri-Series, July 18-25:
Dawid Malan (Middlesex, captain), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent), Ben Duckett (Northants), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Brett D’Oliveira (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent, wk), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Mark Wood (Durham), George Garton (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey)
Tri-Series Fixtures:
Monday July 18 – Pakistan A v Sri Lanka A (Cheltenham), Tuesday July 19 – England Lions v Pakistan A (Cheltenham), Thursday July 21 – England Lions v Sri Lanka A (Northampton), Friday July 22 – Pakistan A v Sri Lanka A (Northampton),Sunday July 24 – England Lions v Pakistan A (Canterbury),Monday July 25 – England Lions v Sri Lanka A (Canterbury)