Will Jacks of Surrey will lead England Under-19s into the Royal London One-Day Series against India, which starts at the SSE SWALEC in Cardiff tomorrow.
Jacks was confirmed today as the replacement for Harry Brook, the Yorkshire opener who had originally been appointed as England’s captain for the five-match series, but has been recalled by his county to play in their Specsavers Championship match against Essex in Scarborough.
That means he will definitely miss the first two matches of the series, in Cardiff and a day-night game in Canterbury on Wednesday that will be televised by Sky Sports – although the plan is for Brook to link up with the squad ahead of game three in Hove next Saturday.
Matt Potts, the Durham all-rounder who has also rejoined his county for their Championship match at Leicester, will also be available for the last three games of the series.
Fin Trenouth has been added to the squad as batting cover for Brook, joining his Somerset team-mates Tom Lammonby and wicketkeeper Tom Banton – three of seven newcomers to the squad since the two four-day matches against India, as the England selectors have considered only players who are eligible for the ICC Under-19s World Cup in New Zealand in early 2018.
The other four new faces are Hampshire batsman Felix Organ, Worcestershire seamer Adam Finch, Derbyshire’s Afghanistan-born off-spinner Hamidullah Qadri, and Ben Allison, who joins his Essex team-mate Jack Plom in the squad – replacing Derbyshire’s Alfie Gleadall, who was forced to withdraw through injury.
Jacks scored a century in the second four-day match against India in Worcester last week, and although it was not enough to prevent England suffering a second defeat, the head coach Andy Hurry was heartened by some improvements from the mauling they suffered in the first match in Chesterfield.
“In the first Test I don't think we competed at all, so it was pleasing that we improved for the second Test,” he said. “We put their batters under pressure and as a result we got 20 wickets.
“With the bat it was important that people got in and once they got in they went big and Will Jacks getting a hundred in the second Test was again a significant stride in the right direction from a team perspective as well as an individual one. That was very pleasing.”
Now Hurry has a refreshed squad focusing on the white-ball game – with next year’s World Cup, in which England will be based in Queenstown for their group matches, coming up fast.
“A couple of young players will come into the group for the ODI series, like Hamidullah Qadri and Tom Lammonby, players who've both got high ceilings potentially,” he added.
“It will be their first experience within the international player pathway and it will be a challenging experience for them. There's so much to look forward to over the winter as well and I'm convinced that we'll take significant learnings - alongside the chance to test their skills under pressure - from the ODI series.”
England’s preparations for the Royal London series were boosted by visits from Darren Gough and James Taylor. Both of them addressed the squad in Cardiff last night about the challenges of international cricket, after Gough had worked with the England seamers in practice alongside the ECB fast-bowling lead Kevin Shine.
Tickets are available from Gate 5 (cash only) and just £5 for adults, while entry for U17s and members is free.
England squad: Ben Allison (Essex), Liam Banks (Warwickshire), Tom Banton (Somerset, wk), Jack Blatherwick (Nottinghamshire), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Adam Finch (Worcestershire), Will Jacks (Surrey, capt), Tom Lammonby (Somerset), Felix Organ (Hampshire), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), Jack Plom (Essex), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire), Oli Robinson (Kent, wk), Fin Trenouth (Somerset), Liam Trevaskis (Durham).
Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Matt Potts (Durham) to join squad for last three matches of the series.