Alsop Selected By England Lions

England Lions have added Hampshire's promising young batsman Tom Alsop to their 14-man squad set to face Pakistan A and Sri Lanka A in the final two matches of the Tri Series at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.

Having opened for England Under-19s last summer and played regularly for Hampshire this season, 20-year-old Alsop replaces Joe Clarke, who suffered a side injury warming up ahead of the Worcestershire Rapids match at Derby in the NatWest T20 Blast on Friday evening.

“It’s a real shame for Joe, but it's given us the opportunity call another talented young player into the squad in Tom Alsop,” said James Whitaker, the National Selector.

“We do have other options in the squad originally selected for the Lions, but we felt this was a good chance to give Tom a taste of the Lions set-up, and for our elite coaches to have a closer look at him.

“He's done well in all forms of cricket for Hampshire this season, especially in 50-over cricket in the Royal London One-Day Cup, where he is 16^th in the MVP Rankings run by the Professional Cricketers’ Association, meaning he is pushing hard for a place in the North-South series that will be played in the UAE next spring."

Alsop will link up with the Lions squad in Canterbury on Saturday, following two opening victories in the Tri-Series in Cheltenham and Northampton last week. The Lions could secure top spot with a second victory against Pakistan A at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Sunday – before they play Sri Lanka A at the same venue in the last match of the series on Monday.

Revised Lions squad: Malan (capt), Billings (wk), Bell-Drummond, Duckett, Dawson, Livingstone, D’Oliveira, Alsop, S Curran, T Curran, Roland-Jones, Wood, Garton, Mahmood.