Alastair Cook, Chris Woakes Named In Strong England Lions Squad To Play India A

With an eye on the upcoming five-Test series against India, England have named a strong Lions side for the unofficial Test against India A.

Former skipper Alastair Cook headlines the string of big names in the team. Apart from the other notable inclusions in the team are Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Dom Bess and Jack Leach. With the English season all set for the T20 mode, this was perhaps the best way for the English Test players to get some-much needed match-practise ahead of Test series against India which begins on August 1. Before then, there is only one full round of Championship cricket – starting July 22.

Bess made his Test debut in May during the Test against Pakistan. He had gone wicketless at Lord’s, but impressed with the bat, before taking 3 for 33 in the second innings at Headingley, helping England level the series.

Malan and Cook, meanwhile, will be looking to score good amount of runs before the tough series against India. Essex do not have a Championship match in July, meaning Cook would not have batted in a competitive environment for over a month prior to the series-opener.

Malan, on the other hand, has not played any limited-overs game for England this summer. He and Woakes will also get some extra match-time when their teams, Middlesex and Warwickshire, meet in the Championship. Woakes will use the game to step-up his rehabilitation from a right knee and quad injury.

Coming to other players, Surrey’s Rory Burns and Ollie Pope have received their maiden Lions calls.

The four-day match gets underway on July 16 at New Road.

England Lions squad:

Alastair Cook (Essex); Rory Burns (Surrey); Nick Gubbins (Middlesex); Dawid Malan (Middlesex); Ollie Pope (Surrey); Chris Woakes (Warwickshire); Sam Curran (Surrey); Dom Bess (Somerset); Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire); Jack Leach (Somerset); Jamie Porter (Essex)