Published: Aug 12, 2013, 09:18 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 12, 2013, 09:18 PM (IST)
The likes of Jos Butler, Liam Plunkett and a few more experienced players will play under the leadership of Eoin Morgan (above) for the England Lions © Getty Images
Aug 12, 2013
Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan has been announced as skipper of the England Lions team to play Australia in a two-day game starting on August 16 at the County Ground, Northampton.
Northamptonshire CCC were due to play Australia but their qualification for the Friends Life T20 finals has given Lions team an opportunity to fulfill the fixture.
Ashley Giles has been named the coach of the side. The team will also feature three debutants, Warwickshire fast bowler Keith Barker, Yorkshire batsman Alex Lees and Sussex batsman Luke Wells. The team will also have the likes of Gary Balance, Jos Butler, James Harris, Simon Kerrigan, Liam Plunkett and Ben Stokes.
National selector Geoff Miller said: “Northamptonshire’s progression to the t20 finals day has presented us with a great opportunity to field a strong Lions team to face the Australian’s at Wantage Road,” as reported by ECB’s official website.
“We have looked to reward the players from the county circuit who have performed well this season and will look to push for places in future England squads with this fixture.
“With the t20 Finals day running over the weekend of this fixture, we have been unable to select from any of the sides involved in that competition for obvious reasons, plus there are a number of other domestic fixtures that run very closely to this Lions game, so for practical reasons we had to recognise that a number of counties’ players were unavailable.
“As is always the case with these fixtures, they are an excellent marker for judging the level of these players at a very high international standard and we look forward to seeing the team perform strongly against the Australian opposition.”
