Middlesex's Max Holden has been named in a 15-man England Under 19s squad for the forthcoming ICC Under 19s World Cup in Bangladesh.
Brad Taylor has been confirmed as England’s captain. The Hampshire offspinner is joined by his county team-mate Mason Crane and several other players with senior experience for the 50-over tournament, which starts on 26 January.
Dan Lawrence of Essex will be Taylor’s vice-captain and the squad also includes the Durham batsman Jack Burnham, Somerset wicketkeeper Ryan Davies, Lancashire fast bowler Saqib Mahmood and Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran – all of whom made their county debuts in 2015, Davies for Kent and Curran taking 42 wickets in 23 appearances for Surrey in all competitions.
Aneurin Donald, who made his Glamorgan debut in 2014 and captained the Under-19s in their Royal London One-Day Series against Australia last summer, is recalled after missing the recent triangular tournament against India and Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Somerset have three players in the squad with Davies joined by Ben Green and George Bartlett, who are still at school at Exeter and Millfield respectively.
David Graveney OBE, the National Performance Manager and chairman of selectors, said: “We have been building towards this competition for some time and I think we’re a lot further down the road than we were before the last Under-19s World Cup in Dubai two years ago. England finished third in that tournament which was a fine achievement and there is no reason why this squad could not do as well or even better than that.
“The team have spent the last three weeks in Sri Lanka and although the results were disappointing, it was a valuable learning experience against two very talented teams in conditions similar to those we expect to find in Bangladesh.”
After a Christmas break, the squad will leave for a week of practice in Dubai on January 14, including a warm-up match against South Africa on January 18, before flying on to Bangladesh two days later.
England will open their campaign against Fiji in Chittagong on January 27, with further group games against West Indies and Zimbabwe.
This will be the eleventh running of the tournament since it began in 1988, with England’s sole win coming ten years later when a team captained by Owais Shah and including Graeme Swann and Rob Key beat New Zealand in the final in Johannesburg.
England squad for ICC Under-19 World Cup, Bangladesh, January 26 – February 14:
