Kent’s Adam Ball and Daniel Bell-Drummond have been named in England’s Under 19s squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia next month.
Ball will captain the side, whilst Bell-Drummond is expected to open the batting with the pair rewarded for their fine form over the last year, being named in the fifteen man squad.
Adam Ball commented on the announcement; “It is a real honour to be selected, and to also captain the squad. The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be challenging, but we are ready and looking toward to getting out there. I’m also really pleased that DBD has been included in the squad.”
England will begin with a game against hosts Australia in Townsville on 11th August before playing Ireland and Nepal in the other group stage matches. If England progress in the competition they could then go on to face one of twelve other countries in the latter stages competing in the U19 World Cup.
The squad was selected by the England Development Programme selectors including David Graveney (EDP Head Selector), Tim Boon (Head Coach), John Abrahams and Iain Brunnschweiler
EDP Head Selector David Graveney said: “The squad we have put together contains strength in depth and some exciting young talent which we look forward to seeing perform on the world stage in Australia. It was difficult to reduce the squad from our original 30 names to just 15, but we feel we have a good mix of batting and bowling with strong names in reserve in case of any injuries.”
EDP Head Coach Tim Boon said: “The squad contains a great blend of players with first-class experience and those with less experience. We’ve got some great games to look forward to against top class opposition at such a prestigious tournament. We’re looking to giving them an opportunity to impress at this level and hope will we compete strongly throughout the competition.”
Picture by Sarah Ansell. To see more of Sarah’s pictures visit www.sarahcanterbury.com
England Under-19 squad:
| Name: | County: |
| Adam Ball (captain) | Kent |
| Ben Foakes ( vice captain) | Essex |
| Shozair Ali | Warwickshire |
| Daniel Bell-Drummond | Kent |
| Ben Collins | Leicestershire |
| Alex Davies | Lancashire |
| Ben Duckett | Northamptonshire |
| Brett Hutton | Nottinghamshire |
| Aneesh Kapil | Worcestershire |
| Tom Knight | Derbyshire |
| Craig Overton | Somerset and Devon |
| Jamie Overton | Somerset and Devon |
| Reece Topley | Essex |
| Kishan Velani | Essex |
| Sam Wood | Nottinghamshire |