James Vince will lead an experienced 13-man England Lions squad into a three-match one-day series against South Africa A next month.
Vince is one of four players included with senior ODI experience in the last eight months, alongside Ben Duckett and Steven Finn – who were both included in the England squad for the recent Royal London One-Day Series against Ireland – and his Hampshire team-mate Liam Dawson.
The squad also includes Dawid Malan, the Middlesex opener who was a non-playing member of England’s T20 squad last summer, while six of the remaining eight players toured Sri Lanka with the Lions in the winter.
The other two – Essex batsman Dan Lawrence, and Sussex’s left-arm pace bowler George Garton – played in the ICC Under-19s World Cup in Bangladesh last year, and in Garton’s case made a Lions debut in the Tri-Series against Pakistan A and Sri Lanka A last summer.
James Whitaker, the National Selector, said: “We wanted to select a strong and experienced Lions squad for this series, as it coincides with the early stages of the ICC Champions Trophy, and therefore provides us with the opportunity to keep our standby players in white-ball action.
“The quality of the squad we have selected reflects well on the strength in depth we now have in 50-over cricket which has emerged through the county game. All the players in this squad will have the 2019 World Cup in their sights, and playing for the Lions offers them the platform to show what they can do.
“In addition to his considerable captaincy experience with Hampshire, James Vince has led the Lions before, to an excellent series victory against South Africa A in early 2015 and again when they played 50-over and T20 series against Pakistan A in Dubai in the winter of 2015-16 – and he also impressed in captaining the South to victory in the North-South Series earlier this year. He is a good tactical reader of the game.
“We were also mindful in selecting this squad that the series coincides with an important round of matches in the Specsavers County Championship. As ever we are grateful to the counties for their support, and for appreciating the importance of the Lions programme in developing players for international cricket.”
Surrey, who are the only county with three players in the squad, do not have a fixture in the round of Championship matches starting on Friday June 2, and nor do Essex or Kent.
The Lions series starts at Trent Bridge the previous day with the remaining two games at Northampton on Saturday June 3 and Monday June 5, the latter a day-night fixture – with free entry to all three games.
The Lions also play a four-day game against South Africa A at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence from June 21-24, and then a three-day match against the senior South Africa tourists in Worcester from June 29 – July 1, with squads for those matches to be named next month.
England Lions squad - to play South Africa A in three-match one-day series at Trent Bridge (June 1) and Northampton (June 3 & 5).
Dawid Malan (Middlesex)
Ben Duckett (Northants)
Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent)
James Vince (Hampshire, captain)
Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
Ben Foakes (Surrey, wk)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Tom Curran (Surrey)
Craig Overton (Somerset)
Steven Finn (Middlesex)
Dan Lawrence (Essex)
George Garton (Sussex)
