20 Jul 2015 | Cricket
Glamorgan batsmen Aneurin Donald will lead England Under-19's in a five-match Royal London One-Day series against their Australian counterparts later this summer.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced two England Under-19s (U19s) squads to play a five-match Royal London one-day series and a one-off four-day fixture against their Australian counterparts next month. Donald will share the captaincy with Lancashire batsman Haseeb Hameed who will take charge for the standalone four-day match at the Emirates Durham ICG from 4 - 7 August.
Eighteen-year-old Aneurin Donald (Glamorgan) will then take over captaincy duties for the five Royal London 50-over matches on August 11 (South Northumberland CC), 14 (Chesterfield CC), 17 (The 3aaa County Ground, Derbyshire), 20 (Grace Road, Leicestershire), and 22 August (New Road, Worcestershire).
Daniel Lawrence, who became the third youngest player in history to score a County Championship century when he struck 161 for Essex against Surrey at the start of the summer, is included in both squads for the first time, and young Durham duo Jack Burnham and Adam Hickey have been called-up to the one-day squad, also for the first time, following a series of excellent performances in second eleven competitions this season.
England Development Programme Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney, said:
It is a very exciting summer for England cricket, with the men's Ashes level, the Women's Ashes getting underway in Taunton tomorrow, and this England U19 v Australia U19 series on the horizon next month.
We have selected two separate and larger squads than normal, reflecting the number of young players currently featuring in first team county cricket. With the likes of Sam Curran and Mason Crane regularly playing First-Class cricket for Surrey and Hampshire, Head of the EDP, Andy Hurry, has carefully discussed what is best for the development of each individual player with their counties. Naming a large squad therefore enables us to be flexible and able to react should any of the selected players be called-upon to play first team county cricket.
Both sides know each other well, having played a hard-fought series in Australia just four months ago, and the matches this summer will once again form an important part of England's preparation for the 2016 ICC U19 World Cup in Bangladesh next February.
Head of the England Development Programme, Andy Hurry will oversee the six-match series, with support from England Development Programme Coaches Tim Boon and Iain Brunnschweiler.
The series comes four months after England U19s returned form a reciprocal tour Down Under, where they narrowly lost the one-day series 3-2, and secured an excellent draw in the four-day match at the WACA.
England Under-19 4-day squad in full: Tom Alsop (Hampshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Ryan Davies (Kent), George Garton (Sussex) Ben Green (Somerset), Haseeb Hameed (captain) Lancashire, Max Holden (Middlesex), Daniel Lawrence (Essex) ,Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Brad Taylor (Hampshire), Callum Taylor (Essex), Aaron Thomason (Warwickshire), Jared Warner (Yorkshire), Saif Zaib (Northamptonshire)
England Under-19 50-over squad in full: Hugh Bernard (Kent), Jack Burnham (Durham), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ryan Davies (Kent), Aneurin Donald (captain) Glamorgan, Ben Green ( Somerset), Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire), Adam Hickey (Durham), Daniel Lawrence (Essex), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Brad Taylor (Hampshire), Callum Taylor (Essex), Aaron Thomason (Warwickshire),
Jared Warner (Yorkshire), Saif Zaib (Northamptonshire)
Itinerary:
30.7.15 - 31.7.15 2-day warm-up match Unicorns NCPC, Loughborough
4.8.15 - 7.8.15 4-day match Australia U19 Emirates Durham ICG
11.8.15 50-over match Australia U19 South Northumberland CC
14.8.15 50-over match Australia U19 Chesterfield CC
17.8.15 50-over match Australia U19 The 3aaa County Ground, Derby
20.8.15 50-over match Australia U19 Grace Road, Leicester
22.8.15 50-over match Australia U19 New Road, Worcester
Speaking to BBC Wales, just before the announcement Donald commented on how much he had enjoyed the captaincy experience from the last tour Down Under,
I was very lucky and very honoured to be given the captaincy duties for the last game and delighted to get another chance this summer said Donald.
It is something I love to do and hopefully its something I can do for Glamorgan one day.
It was a fantastic experience to be involved in our little mini- Ashes with England Under 19s last winter. It wasn't quite the results we wanted going down 3-2 in the one-day series, but they are over her in the next month or so, so hopefully we can put that right.
Captaincy is something I quite enjoy, especially as a specialist-batsman, my bowling is frowned upon, so it's a good way of keeping in the game. I'm always thinking about it regardless of whether I'm captain or not and its nice to have a little bit of power as well as keeping my brain ticking over and staying in the game.