England U19 Pakistan tour plans are set after the England and Wales Cricket Board named an 18-member squad for the Young Lions trip to Pakistan in December. Ralphie Albert will captain the side, with Nottinghamshire all-rounder Farhan Ahmed as his vice-captain.
The tour will feature three Youth One-Day Internationals and one four-day Youth Test, and every match will take place in Rawalpindi. Before the team travels to Pakistan, most of the squad will attend a 12-day training camp in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from November 19 to 30.
Former Durham seamer Neil Killeen will coach the side on an interim basis for the winter programme. He has stepped into the role after Mike Yardy moved to a new position as Elite National Batting Lead. Killeen will work with Joe Denly, Steve Mullaney and Kyle Hogg on the coaching team.
England U19 Pakistan tour squad in full
The squad named for the tour is Ralphie Albert (captain), Farhan Ahmed (vice-captain), Subhaan Ali, Robbie Bowman, Tom Bradley, Thomas Edwards, Luke Hands, Theo Lamey, Manny Lumsden, Bertie Michael, Isaac Mohammad, Joe Moores, Jack Nelson, Leo Selvey-Clinton, Marley Simpson, Luke Symington, Charlie Taylor and Jeet Varaich.
Worcestershire left-arm seamer Jeet Varaich, the uncapped name in the group, has earned his first Young Lions call-up after a strong summer in age-group and second-team cricket.
Two players will have restricted roles on the trip. Marley Simpson and Luke Symington will join the squad only for the training camp in Sri Lanka and will not travel to Pakistan. Fast bowlers Charlie Taylor and Manny Lumsden will do the opposite: they will meet the squad in Rawalpindi and follow individual development programmes designed for fast bowlers.
England U19 Pakistan tour schedule
| Match | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Training camp, Colombo | November 19 to 30 | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| First Youth ODI | December 5 | Rawalpindi |
| Second Youth ODI | December 7 | Rawalpindi |
| Third Youth ODI | December 9 | Rawalpindi |
| Youth Test | December 13 to 16 | Rawalpindi |
A return fixture after the summer series
The December trip is a return fixture after the two sides met in England in the summer. Albert played against Pakistan at Arundel in September, and Kent prospect Leo Selvey-Clinton scored a century on his England Under-19 debut against Pakistan at the same ground, aged only 17.
The Pakistan players already know several of the tourists from that series, and the tourists already know what to expect from Pakistan’s young bowlers and batters. Neither side starts cold.
For Pakistan, the tour is also a useful home fixture at a busy time. Rawalpindi is already hosting senior international cricket this month, with Pakistan’s ODI tri-series training in Rawalpindi and England’s arrival in Islamabad for the ODI tri-series both covered on this site. A youth series in the same city keeps the ground staff, the crowds and the local cricket economy active between senior fixtures, and it gives Pakistan’s own Under-19 players a home series against strong opposition.
After Rawalpindi, the Young Lions will tour Australia in the new year.
What Killeen said about the group
Killeen said he was looking forward to leading an exciting group of young players and coaches across the winter programme. He called Sri Lanka an excellent venue for the training camp, and said the squad would build towards what he expects to be a tough contest in Pakistan after the summer series.
That framing suits the Young Lions model. The programme exists to prepare players for senior international cricket, not to win youth trophies at any cost. A four-match tour in Pakistan tests both white-ball skills and red-ball patience in one trip.
Farhan Ahmed, the vice-captain, is already an established name in county cricket, and Albert leads a side with county experience across the board. The changes to the Pakistan-Sri Lanka tri-series and Shadab Khan’s century that took Pakistan into the tri-series final show how quickly young players can become senior talking points in this country.
What happens next
The squad will gather for the Colombo camp on November 19. After 12 days of training in Sri Lanka, the team will travel to Rawalpindi for the three Youth ODIs on December 5, 7 and 9, followed by the Youth Test from December 13 to 16. The full announcement is covered by Geo and the Kia Oval.
