England Under 19s reveal squad to play at Spitfire Ground
Tuesday 12th July 2016
England Under-19s have named a fresh-faced squad to play two four-day matches and a Royal London One-Day Series against Sri Lanka this summer, with the finale at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Tuesday 16 August.
Middlesex opener Max Holden will captain England’s squad with few faces retained from the touring party for the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.
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Somerset’s George Bartlett is the only other player in a 14-man squad for the four-day matches who was involved in the World Cup, while county team-mate Ben Green and Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Moores are included in the 14-man squad for the three-match 50-over series – which ends with the day-night match at Canterbury.
Entrance to the England Lions and England Under-19s matches at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence is included in all Kent Cricket Memberships and is an option for Six Pack package holders.
David Graveney OBE, the chairman of selectors of the England Development Programme, said: “Congratulations to Max on being appointed captain, and to all the other players who have been selected for what should be an interesting and challenging series of matches against Sri Lanka in two formats.
“Max has been in the EDP for a number of years, and has progressed from a position where he was one of the youngest players to now being one of the senior players and earning the captaincy, which I know he is excited about.
“We always work closely with counties to decide what is best for the development of each player, and it has been pleasing to see that 14 players who represented England Under-19s over the last 12 months have played first-team cricket this season, including 11 of the 15 we took to the World Cup in Bangladesh – and in many cases have already made significant contributions.
“Clearly we took that into account in selecting this squad, and that has led to opportunities for a number of other players.
The Under-19s, under the supervision of the head of the EDP Andy Hurry, will meet up for a two-day match against Unicorns in Loughborough on July 21-22, before facing Sri Lanka in the first of the two four-day games at Fenner’s, the University Cricket Ground in Cambridge.
Squads
Four-day matches: Max Holden (Middlesex, captain), Josh Dell, Zen Malik, Josh Tongue, Ben Twohig, Ollie Westbury (all Worcestershire), George Hankins (Gloucestershire), George Bartlett (Somerset), Ollie Pope (wk), Amar Virdi (both Surrey), George Panayi (Warwickshire), Aaron Beard (Essex), Ed Barnes (Yorkshire), Josh Coughlin (Durham).
Royal London One-Day Series: Max Holden (Middlesex, captain), Josh Dell, Zen Malik, Josh Tongue, Ben Twohig (all Worcestershire), George Hankins (Gloucestershire), George Bartlett, Dom Bess, Ben Green (all Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey, wk), Aaron Beard (Essex), Ed Barnes (Yorkshire), Tom Moores (wk), Jack Blatherwick (both Nottinghamshire).
Fixtures
July 21-22 v Unicorns (Loughborough), July 26-29 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Cambridge), August 3-6 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Northampton), August 10 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Royal London One-Day Series, Wormsley), August 13 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Royal London One-Day Series, Chelmsford), August 16 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Royal London One-Day Series, Canterbury)