Westley and Wood included in England Lions squad

Tom Westley helped England towards their target © Getty Images

Tom Westley and Mark Wood, who narrowly missed out on places in the Ashes squad due to form and fitness respectively, have been included in the England Lions party which will be in Australia for a month from mid-November.

Ben Duckett and Keaton Jennings are the other two players in the party with Test experience, while the eye-catching less experienced players selected include Lancashire pace bowler Saqib Mahmood and Surrey spinner Amar Virdi. Haseeb Hameed, the Lancashire opener, was not considered due to the broken finger he sustained in the closing weeks of the season

Jamie Porter, the leading wicket-taker in the County Championship, and Dan Lawrence make it three players from county champions Essex in the squad, which will provide cover for the Ashes during the first part of the tour.

Depending on how the situation involving Ben Stokes evolves, following his arrest last week in Bristol, one or more of the Lions squad could yet be elevated to the full squad although the likes of Steven Finn and Liam Plunkett would also be in the frame.

The Lions will be in Brisbane during the first Test – where they will play a three-day match against a Queensland XI – then relocate to Perth where they will have three T20 matches against Perth Scorchers

James Whitaker, the national selector, said: “This camp provides an opportunity for emerging young talent and some players with international experience to work hard on their game in Australia, in excellent facilities, under the guidance of Andy Flower and our other lead coaches. The players selected have a range of experience, and we believe they are an exciting group.”

A Young Lions squad was also announced for a tri-series against South Africa and Namibia from late November. That will act as a build-up to the Under-19 World Cup which will take place in New Zealand from early January.

The ECB has begun the process of replacing Andy Hurry, who was the head of the Young Lions programme, after he was named as the new director of cricket at Somerset.

England Lions Dom Bess (Somerset), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Paul Coughlin (Durham/Nottinghamshire), Alex Davies (Lancashire), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire), George Garton (Sussex), Nick Gubbins (Middlesex), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Keaton Jennings (Durham/Lancashire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Jamie Porter (Essex), Amar Virdi (Surrey), Tom Westley (Essex), Mark Wood (Durham).

Young Lions Ethan Bamber (Middlesex), Liam Banks (Warwickshire), Tom Banton (Somerset, wk), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Jack Davies (Middlesex, wk), Adam Finch (Worcestershire), Luke Hollman (Middlesex), Will Jacks (Surrey), Tom Lammonby (Somerset), Felix Organ (Hampshire), Dillon Pennington (Worcestershire), Savin Perera (Middlesex), Jack Plom (Essex), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire), Tom Scriven (Hampshire), Prem Sisodiya (Glamorgan), Fin Trenouth (Somerset), Roman Walker (Glamorgan).

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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