Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed has been called up by England Lions, joining four Test players on next month’s trip to the United Arab Emirates.
The 15-man squad will travel to the UAE on November 6 for a training camp, before taking on Ben Stokes’ senior England side in a three-day match that serves as a warm-up for the Test series in Pakistan.
Leicestershire prospect Ahmed, 18, has long been touted for international honours and ended the county season with a maiden five-for and a maiden century in the same match against Derbyshire.
He netted with England’s limited-overs side at Emirates Old Trafford earlier this summer, where he was treated to a one-on-one training session with Adil Rashid.
Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts and Matthew Fisher, all of whom have played Test cricket in 2022, are the highest profile names in the Lions squad.
Durham quick Potts was considered unlucky not to make the full Test squad after a highly impressive start to his England career – taking 20 wickets in five appearances – and has a chance to prove that decision was wrong when the two teams face off between November 23-25.
Fellow seamer Fisher, who made his Test debut in Barbados in March, also has plenty to play for after missing the majority of the county season for Yorkshire with a stress fracture.
Hameed and Lawrence take their places among the batters, the former having been cut loose after a chastening Ashes last winter and the latter not seen since Brendon McCullum and Stokes took charge of the red-ball team.
The Lions will be joined by five members of the Test squad who are not involved in the T20 World Cup, while Jofra Archer’s protracted return to fitness steps up a notch as he travels for training alongside fellow bowlers Saqib Mahmood and Brydon Carse.
- Test preparations: J Anderson, J Leach, W Jacks, J Overton, O Robinson.
- Rehab: J Archer, S Mahmood, B Carse.
Somerset captain Tom Abell and Lancashire batter Josh Bohannon are two of the more established domestic performers in the uncapped Lions list, while Essex paceman Sam Cook is rewarded for his consistent quality across the formats.
Jack Carson and Liam Patterson-White are included as spinners, which looks to be bad news for Dom Bess and Matt Parkinson, whose stock appears to have fallen. Sam Conners, Tom Haines, Jack Haynes, Lyndon James and Jamie Smith complete the group.
ECB performance director Mo Bobat said: “It’s great to be able to recommence Lions developmental experiences and the camp in Dubai and Abu Dhabi represents a fantastic opportunity for a high potential group of players.
“Selection for the camp was conducted in close collaboration with both players and counties, and there are a number of players that have been encouraged and supported to take up other opportunities at home and overseas. The camp also supports the England Men’s team in their preparation for Pakistan, allowing England and Lions players to work closely together in overseas conditions.”
