We are thrilled to announce that three of Middlesex’s promising young cricketers have been named in England’s Young Lions squad to tour South Africa, with James Isbell, Aaryan Sawant and Naavya Sharma all named in the 18-strong squad.
The three youngsters have spent the last month in Stellenbosch with the England Young Lions at a training camp and will join up with the touring party on Thursday, when the group leaves England for South Africa, where they’ll play three Youth One Day Internationals from Friday 17th January, followed by two Youth Test matches, with the first Test starting on Sunday 26th January and the second on Monday 3rd February.
Middlesex announced in October that both Sawant and Sharma had been awarded professional rookie contracts with the Club, and following their trip to South Africa will return to England in February to join up with the rest of the professional squad for pre-season training at Merchant Taylors’ School.
The duo have already featured for England at youth level, with Sharma finishing England’s Under 19 Test series against Sri Lanka last summer as his country’s leading wicket-taker, with nine wickets in the two Tests, whilst Sawant featured twice for the England Young Lions against the same opponents last June in two limited overs encounters at Loughborough, hitting 47 in the second game.
Isbell has been a prolific run-scorer in Middlesex’s EPG programme over the last two seasons and his call up to the squad comes off the back of another solid year in 2024 when he made appearances for the Second Eleven in both County Championship and T20 formats.
He will have the opportunity to build on the two appearances he has already made for his country at Under 19 level, when he rounded off a terrific year by scoring an unbeaten 44 and then 77 in two games against Ireland last September.
On the three players being named in England’s Young Lions squad, Mark Lane, Middlesex’s Player Pathway Head Coach commented:
“I’m really pleased for the three lads on their selection for the Young Lions tour of South Africa.
“Having spoken to the boys, they have certainly learnt a lot from the previous training camp and are excited to apply the skills they have acquired.”
We wish the three players all the best of luck on the trip and will be keeping a watchful eye on their progress over the weeks ahead.
England’s Young Lions 18-man squad is as follows:
