Coles named in 12-man England Lions squad to face West Indies at Northampton

Matt Coles was today named by England selectors in a 12-man England Lions squad to face West Indies in a four day fixture at Northampton commencing Thursday May 10.

James Taylor will captain a side that includes Michael Carberry and Samit Patel who have both represented England at Test level. Nine of the squad toured Bangladesh or Sri Lanka with England Lions last winter with Carberry, Nick Compton and Ben Stokes also included. Matt Coles is the only player in the squad uncapped at England Lions level, having spent the winter on the Potential England Performance Programme in Loughborough and Chennai before being added to the Lions squad for the final stages of the tour.

Coles enhanced his burgeoning reputation with four wickets yesterday as Yorkshire were all out for 247 on the opening day of their LV= County Championship Division Two clash in Canterbury. Coles, who scored a century against the same opponents in the reverse fixture at the start of the season, took four for 70 and had another couple of opportunities dropped as Yorkshire's top order all failed to build on starts.

Matt Coles commented on today's announcement; "It is a tremendous honour to be selected for the Lions squad. I know I have a lot of hard work to do, but I am looking forward to being involved fully in the set up after having had some experience in the winter. My first priority at the moment is to concentrate on the job I have to do in the current game."

National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “West Indies will no doubt be challenging opposition and this fixture will present an opportunity for players to show that they are capable of taking the next step and representing England at Test level in the future.”

England Lions squad

James Taylor (Nottinghamshire) (Captain)

Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)

Jack Brooks (Northamptonshire)

Michael Carberry (Hampshire)

Matt Coles (Kent)

Nick Compton (Somerset)

Jade Dernbach (Surrey)

Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire)

Stuart Meaker (Surrey)

Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)

Joe Root (Yorkshire)

Ben Stokes (Durham)

Photo: Sarah Ansell SarahCanterbury.com