CRICKET: Lancashire players named in England training squad

Seven Lancashire players have been named in England’s training squad ahead of a possible Test series against the West Indies later this summer.

James Anderson, Jos Buttler, Richard Gleeson, Keaton Jennings, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson are all included. They should all be reporting to Emirates Old Trafford next week if they haven’t done so already.

ECB Performance Director Mo Bobat said: “It’s really pleasing to be in a position to have players returning to training and a huge amount of work has been done by many to get us this far. The pool of players will give selectors strong options when it comes to selecting squads across formats further down the line, as we move closer to our aim of playing international cricket this summer.”

“We will need to continue to work closely with our medical team and government to ensure that our return to training and play activities are in line with best-practice guidelines. We’re also really grateful for the positive and collaborative response from our county colleagues who are doing a great job at facilitating coaching and support for the players. The fact that we can call on our network to support the national effort shows the strength of our system.”

England were due to host both Australia and Pakistan at Old Trafford this summer, but it is expected that the ground will host more cricket due to the bio-secure nature of it, with a Hilton Garden Inn hotel on site. The Ageas Bowl in Southampton is another venue on the cards.

The ECB announced yesterday that professional domestic cricket will not be played until at least August 1. That means that Lancashire will not be in action until then. However, this is only if a schedule can be agreed.

The Professional Game Group (PGG) will consider multiple options for the play of domestic cricket, which will be presented to the ECB Board in June.

PGG plans will involve both red-ball and white-ball cricket, with behind-closed-doors cricket being considered or a restricted number of supporters able to attend the games whilst following the Government’s social distancing guidance.

The ECB will be prioritising the health and well-being of the public, players, staff and cricket fans when revising its schedule, whilst also considering what forms of cricket will be the most financially important for First-Class Counties, working with broadcasters to give fans as much live cricket as possible and continue to support the women’s game to boost its growth.

England’s Training Squad: Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Dom Bess (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Pat Brown (Worcestershire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Will Jacks (Surrey), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Craig Overton (Somerset), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Sussex), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Amar Virdi (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)