England Lions and Australia XI square off in a 2nd Unofficial Test at St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury. Australia XI will be looking for the second straight win after they piped Sussex in the first unofficial Test by 10 wickets.
England Lions vs Australia XI
Venue: St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
Time: July 14, 03:30 PM
Zak Crawley will make his first appearance for the Lions. Lewis Gregory will lead the side.
Ben Duckett has been withdrawn from the England Lions squad through injury. He will be replaced by Sam Hain.
Test-capped players Mitchell Marsh, Peter Handscomb and Matthew Wade have returned to boost Australia XI. All three were called up to Australia’s World Cup squad as injury cover.
England Lions squad to face Australia A: Lewis Gregory (Captain) James Bracey, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Sam Hain, Jack Leach, Sam Northeast, Jamie Porter, Ollie Robinson and Dom Sibley
Australia A squad to face England Lions:
Tim Paine (c & wk), Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Joe Burns, Kurtis Patterson, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Marcus Harris, Michael Neser, Travis Head, Chris Tremain and Will Pucovski.
England Lions (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Dominic Sibley, Ben Foakes(w), Sam Northeast, James Bracey, Sam Hain, Sam Curran, Lewis Gregory(c), Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, James Porter
Australia A (Playing XI): Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine(w/c), Michael Neser, Chris Tremain, Jackson Bird, Jon Holland
Players in focus
Lewis Gregory – 82 first-class games, 2371 runs @ 21.91, 253 wickets @ 25.66
Ben Foakes – 5 Tests, 332 runs @ 41.50
Jack Leach – 4 Tests, 20 wickets @ 24.90
Sam Northeast – 158 first-class games, 9993 runs @ 39.81
Sam Curran – 9 Tests, 454 runs @ 32.42, 15 wickets @ 34.20
Travis Head – 8 Tests, 663 runs @ 51.00
James Pattinson – 17 Tests, 70 wickets @ 26.15
Josh Hazlewood – 44 Tests, 164 wickets @ 27.14
Joe Burns – 16 Tests, 1123 runs @ 40.10
Marcus Harris – 6 Tests, 327 runs @ 32.70
Wicket-keeper – B Foakes
Batsmen – J Burns, M Harris, S Northeast
All-rounders – T Head, M Marsh, L Gregory, S Curran
Bowlers – J Bird, J Leach, J Holland
Captain choices – J Burns, M Harris, S Northeast, T Head