Young pace bowler, Jack Plom has been called up to the England Under-19s squad for two “Tests” against South Africa at Scarborough and the Emirates Riverside next month.
He will be joined in the squad by Somerset’s Tom Banton, one of six members of the World Cup squad who will continue with the Under-19s this summer – along with Warwickshire batsman Liam Banks, Worcestershire seamer Adam Finch, and the Middlesex trio Ethan Bamber, Luke Hollman and wicketkeeper Jack Davies.
Three other members of the World Cup squad – Worcestershire seamer Dillon Pennington, Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks and Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, who was the captain in New Zealand – have not been selected despite remaining eligible, to allow them to continue gaining further senior experience with their counties.
The England Under-19s selectors have taken the same approach with Henry Brookes, who was ruled out of the World Cup through injury and has become a regular with Warwickshire this season – while Matt Potts, the Durham seamer who shared the new ball with Brookes in last summer’s Under-19s series against India, was ruled out through injury.
Plom, Kent wicketkeeper-batsman Oli Robinson and Derbyshire spinner Hamidullah Qadri are all recalled after responding positively to their omission from the World Cup squad, and there are four uncapped players – the Sussex batsman Harrison Ward, Derbyshire seamer Alfie Gleadall, Worcestershire’s Jack Haynes, and Gloucestershire’s Greg Willows.
Jon Lewis, for whom this will be a first series as head coach of the Young Lions programme after he was initially appointed for the World Cup, said: “I’ve never seen the Under-19s play at Test level, and for all of us the chance to test ourselves against the best young players from South Africa is a really exciting one.
“Already this season it’s been encouraging to see three of the guys from our World Cup squad – as well as Henry Brookes, who was a regular for the Under-19s last summer – earning regular selection by their counties and making some significant contributions.
“The key for us when making these selections is working out with the counties what’s best for each individual player, and in the cases of those four we agreed it was best for them to stay in county cricket.
“That removes some experience from our squad, but that increases the challenge and opportunity for the guys who have been selected.
“Tom Lammonby was really unlucky to miss the World Cup, but my experience of him is that he’s got a good cricket brain, and I’m looking forward to seeing him captain the side.”
England will announce a separate squad early in July for the three-match Royal London One-Day Series against South Africa that follows, with the first game at the Emirates Riverside on July 23 being televised live on Sky Sports, followed by matches at South Northumberland CC and Scarborough.
Lewis will be joined for both the four-day and one-day matches by two more former England cricketers who are now developing their coaching careers in county cricket, Mal Loye and Min Patel, as batting and spin-bowling coaches respectively.
Neil Killeen, the former Durham seamer, continues as fast-bowling coach and Andy Mitchell of Middlesex will be the strength and conditioning coach.
“Mal is Head of Development at Derbyshire, and was part of the coaching staff for the Midlands who won the Super-4s competition at Under-17s level in Loughborough last summer, and Min coaches the Second XI at Kent,” added Lewis.
“I’m delighted to have them both on board as they have a broad range of coaching and playing experiences both domestically and internationally, including extensive work with young cricketers.
“We’re grateful to their counties, and also to Durham and Middlesex, for allowing their staff to join us at such a busy time of the summer.”
The England Under-19 selectors – Lewis, David Graveney and John Abrahams – have named nine more players to face the South Africans in their warm-up match for the series, against an Invitational XI in Loughborough on July 3-4 – when England will face the Unicorns in a two-day match.
England Under-19s squad
Tom Lammonby (Somerset, captain)
Ethan Bamber (Middlesex)
Liam Banks (Warwickshire)
Tom Banton (Somerset)
Jack Davies (Middlesex)
Adam Finch (Worcestershire)
Alfie Gleadall (Derbyshire)
Jack Haynes (Worcestershire)
Luke Hollman (Middlesex)
Jack Plom (Essex)
Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire)
Oli Robinson (Kent)
Harrison Ward (Sussex)
Greg Willows (Gloucestershire)
Fixtures
July 3-4 v Unicorns (Loughborough)
July 8-11 – first “Youth Test” v South Africa Under-19s (Scarborough)
July 16-19 – second “Youth Test” v South Africa Under-19s (Emirates Riverside)
*A separate England Under-19s squad will be named in early July for the three-match Royal London One-Day Series against South Africa A with games at Emirates Riverside (July 23, live on Sky Sports), South Northumberland CC (July 26) and Scarborough (July 29).
Selected for an Invitational XI to play South Africa Under-19s at Loughborough, July 3-4
Ben Allison (Essex), Ben Charlesworth (Gloucestershire), Jordan Cook (Nottinghamshire), Ed Fluck (Lancashire), George Lavelle (Lancashire), Will Sheffield (Sussex), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Kaz
Szymanski (Glamorgan), Rob Yates (Warwickshire)
