England have released leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed and wicketkeeper-batter James Rew from the Lord’s Test squad so they can play for England Lions in a three-match 50-over series against South Africa A, starting at Grace Road on Friday.
The pair were unused during the opening Test against New Zealand and will now join a 17-strong Lions group that blends fringe internationals with emerging talent. Players will shuttle in and out of the squad to meet county T20 Blast commitments, a juggling act the ECB accepts is inevitable in a crowded June.
Fast bowler Saqib Mahmood is back in national colours after the knee trouble that scuppered his T20 World Cup hopes. “The knee feels strong now – I just want overs in the legs,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire last week. Kent’s Jordan Cox links up after a stint in the IPL, while wrist-spinner Mason Crane is rewarded for a productive start to the season with Glamorgan.
Caleb Falconer, whose hundred lit up England’s Under-19 World Cup final in February, is included alongside age-group colleagues Ben Mayes and Thomas Rew. “It’s the next step for this crop,” Lions coach Neil Killeen said. “Fifty-over cricket gives them time to build an innings or a spell without the rush of the Blast.”
The series doubles as an audition for senior white-ball selection. England face India in five T20s and three ODIs from 1–19 July, with selection meetings pencilled in for later this month. Chief selector Luke Wright noted on Sky Sports: “Perform well here and you’re in the conversation straightaway.”
South Africa A have named a punchy squad featuring Test seamer Gerald Coetzee, new-ball specialist Ottneil Baartman and top-order left-hander Tony de Zorzi. Teen fast bowler Kwena Maphaka, who impressed during the Under-19 World Cup, is also on the tour.
The Lions have played only one 50-over fixture in the past three years after a planned series against Pakistan A was curtailed by Middle-East travel disruption in March. Two first-class matches against South Africa A last week both ended in defeats for the hosts, underlining the value of more game time. “We were rusty,” Killeen admitted. “More cricket, more learning – that’s all we’re after.”
Reciprocal fixtures in South Africa are scheduled for December.
England Lions squad
James Coles, Noah Cornwell, Jordan Cox, Mason Crane, Henry Crocombe, Scott Currie, Caleb Falconer, Eddie Jack, Saqib Mahmood, Ben Mayes, Ben McKinney, Dan Mousley, Matthew Potts, Rehan Ahmed, James Rew, Thomas Rew, Asa Tribe.
Fixtures
5 June – Grace Road, Leicester
7 June – New Road, Worcester
9 June – New Road, Worcester
