New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) England spinner Rehan Ahmed has been picked in England Lions’ squads for the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies A in St Kitts and Nevis.
The spinner recently missed out on making it to the squads for the Pakistan ODI tri-series and for the white-ball tour to Australia next month after failing to impress in the two ODIs he played against Sri Lanka in September.
He was named in the central contract list which the ECB issued a few days ago, and his selection in the Lions squad stands as a stepping stone for him to earn his way back into the senior English side.
Jonathan Trott will be leading the side as the new head coach, and he highlighted that the series will serve as the platform where players will push for national selection. “I want to create a culture where England players will benefit from coming back and working in this environment to push for national team selection across formats and by performing and helping the Lions to win games of cricket,” he said, as quoted by an ECB release.
He looks ahead at the series, aiming to give his all for the Lions side, which once helped him grow. “I’m excited to get to work with a hugely talented group of players starting with this white-ball tour of the Caribbean.
“I’ve spoken about how important the Lions was in my career, and now it’s my role to help prepare younger players for what lies ahead of them in international cricket,” he added.
Meanwhile, the One-day and T20 squads have nine players from the central contracts list. Rehan Ahmed, Sam Cook and Dan Lawrence, who are picked for 50-over only, are on full central contracts, while the squad has Mason Crane, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, James Coles (50-over only) and Thomas Rew too, all of whom are on Development Deals.
Meanwhile, Rew and Lawrence will be captaining the Lions squad for the first time in an official match, with the former named skipper of the T20 outfit and the latter leading the One-day side.
“This squad has a mix of Centrally Contracted and Development Contract players which reflects some of the highest performing and most precious talent around the game,” Trott added.
Coles, Jack and Rew have been named in the 50-over squads for the first three matches of the five-match series as they will leave for senior international duty against Australia for a T20I series. Meanwhile, Worcestershire’s Adam Finch is the one uncapped Lions player in the squad.
The three T20s will be played from November 1 onwards, with the 50-over contests running from November 7 to 16.
England Lions squads for West Indies A series:
T20 squad: Thomas Rew (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Scott Currie, Adam Finch, Calvin Harrison, Jack Haynes, Eddie Jack, Ben Mayes, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, James Rew, Naavya Sharma, Ekansh Singh, Asa Tribe
50-over squad: Dan Lawrence (capt), Rehan Ahmed, James Coles*, Sam Cook, Mason Crane, Adam Finch, Jack Haynes, Eddie Jack*, Ben Kellaway, Ben Mayes, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, James Rew, Thomas Rew*, Naavya Sharma, Ekansh Singh, Asa Tribe
–IANS
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