Warwickshire opener Liam Banks has been named in a 15-man England squad for the ICC Under-19s World Cup in New Zealand which starts next month.
Academy graduate Banks (18) made his First Class debut for the Bears in the penultimate Specsavers County Championship match of the season against Yorkshire at Headingley and made his second appearance a week later in the draw with Hampshire at Edgbaston.
The England squad is captained by Harry Brook of Yorkshire and includes four players from Middlesex – Savin Perera, Luke Hollman, Ethan Bamber and wicketkeeper Jack Davies; three from Somerset – Tom Lammonby, Fin Trenouth and another wicketkeeper, Tom Banton; and two each from Glamorgan (Prem Sisodiya and Roman Walker) and Worcestershire (Dillon Pennington and Adam Finch).
Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks and Hampshire all-rounder Tom Scriven complete the 15.
This is an exciting opportunity the squad – to travel to New Zealand, and to test themselves against the outstanding players from other countries in this age group.
David Graveney, Selector
“The players have shown with their performances in the Tri-Series in South Africa over the last couple of weeks that they can travel with plenty of optimism,” said David Graveney, a member of the Under-19s selection panel with John Abrahams and Jon Lewis, who will be head coach for the World Cup.
“We have really benefited from the flexibility permitted by selecting a number of over-age players for the Super-4s competition for the country’s outstanding Under-17s this summer, which allowed a couple of Under-18s such as Savin Perera and Fin Trenouth to put in the performances that have led to their selection in the World Cup squad.
“This is an exciting opportunity for them, and for the rest of the squad – to travel to New Zealand, and to test themselves against the outstanding players from other countries in this age group.”
Lewis, the former England seamer who is now assistant coach at Sussex and currently working with the Lions in Australia, said: “I’ve been receiving regular reports of the team’s progress in South Africa from Richard Dawson and the other coaches, and I’m really looking forward to joining the squad ahead of the World Cup.”
Lewis will be assisted by Warwickshire batsman Jonathan Trott as batting coach, Neil Killeen as fast bowling coach, and Chris Taylor as fielding coach – his last tournament as the ECB’s fielding lead before joining Surrey.
Squad
- Harry Brook (Yorkshire, captain)
- Ethan Bamber (Middlesex)
- Liam Banks (Warwickshire)
- Tom Banton (Somerset, wk)
- Jack Davies (Middlesex, wk)
- Adam Finch (Worcestershire)
- Luke Hollman (Middlesex)
- Will Jacks (Surrey)
- Tom Lammonby (Somerset)
- Dillon Pennington (Worcestershire)
- Savin Perera (Middlesex)
- Prem Sisodiya (Glamorgan)
- Tom Scriven (Hampshire)
- Fin Trenouth (Somerset)
- Roman Walker (Glamorgan).
Warm-up matches:
- v Ireland (Jan 9, Christchurch)
- v Sri Lanka (Jan 11, Lincoln)
Group matches (all Queenstown):
- v Namibia (Jan 15)
- v Bangladesh (Jan 18)
- v Canada (Jan 20).
