With the full England team heading to the West Indies in March, Jonathan Trott has selected an inexperienced Lions squad to travel to Sri Lanka for a series of 3 test matches, 2 ODIs and 3 T20's against Sri Lanka A. The tour will kick off on March 1st in Pallekele with a 4 day warm up game against Nepal.
Trott and his assistant Ian Bell have selected an 18 man panel for the Test leg of the tour with a further 10 short form specialists to fly out later.
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The 18 man test squad is led by Somerset's Tom Abell, with Joe Clarke of Nottinghamshire his deputy. It comprises some familiar faces to England cricket fans coupled with some maybe less familiar, all undoubtedly hoping to put themselves firmly in the minds of the England selectors, given the transitional nature of that squad currently.
The batting department is anchored by Dom Sibley, keen to rediscover the obdurate form which the county scene has become accustomed to over the last few years. Sibley will be joined by Sussex captain Tom Haines, Warwickshire's Rob Yates, Lancashire's Trott-in-waiting Josh Bohannon, Tom Lammonby of Somerset and the Yorkshire dasher Harry Brook, keen to convert his one day form to the longer game. Abell and Clarke make up the batters.
Alex Davies of Warwickshire and James Bracey of Gloucestershire will vie for the wicketkeeping gloves.
With tracks expected to turn, the spin department sees the inclusion of 4 spinners, Mason Crane of Hampshire, the Surrey spin twins Amar Virdi and Dan Moriarty and off the back of some excellent all round performances in the Bob Willis Trophy for Nottinghamshire, Liam Patterson-White.
Rather surprisingly, Trott has selected only four specialist seamers, with pitches expected to offer little lateral movement, opting for the left arm angle of Gloucestershire's David Payne coupled with the pace of Warwickshire's Olly Stone, Durham's Brydon Carse and the bustling but inexperienced Dillon Pennington of Worcestershire. Abell, it's understood will back up the seam department where necessary.
The squad will depart for Sri Lanka imminently...
