 Middlesex paceman Finn has enjoyed a strong start to his first Ashes series
England's selectors have named a 17-man England Lions squad for the tour of the West Indies in January. All players currently involved with the England Performance Programme and not included in the one-day squad to face Australia have secured a place. Ravi Bopara, Adil Rashid and James Harris are also included. Steve Finn, currently with the Test side in Australia, will undertake the first half of the tour with Chris Woakes stepping in for the second half. The players depart for the Caribbean on 24 January and return on 28 March to prepare for the domestic season. The squad will take part in the West Indies Cricket Board's Regional Tournament, playing four-day first-class matches against Barbados, Combined Campuses and Colleges, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands. "The tour of the West Indies gives those players who have been working hard throughout the first part of the winter an opportunity to test themselves in a competitive environment and to continue to put forward a case for inclusion in England squads over the summer," said England national selector Geoff Miller. "The England Performance Programme and England Lions tours are often crucial stages in a player's development and offer coaches and selectors an insight into whether players have the potential to develop into world class cricketers and thrive on the international stage. "This is a balanced squad combining players who have had considerable exposure to international and first class cricket with younger players who have already shown considerable promise." A full schedule for the West Indies tour will be announced in due course.
ENGLAND LIONS SQUAD: James Hildreth (Somerset) (Captain), Jimmy Adams (Hampshire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Danny Briggs (Hampshire), Maurice Chambers (Essex), Jade Dernbach (Surrey), Steve Finn (Middlesex) (first half of tour only), Andrew Gale (Yorkshire), James Harris (Glamorgan), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Leicestershire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) (second half of tour only).
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