Keaton Jennings and Matt Potts among England Lions squad acting as support for India Test series

Based in Ahmedabad, the group will play India A in a two-day warm-up game and three four-day matches before and during the start of the five-Test series, giving England an enhanced 31-strong party to draw from

England Lions have selected a group containing substantial Test experience that will act as the shadow squad during the start of the start of the series against India.

Keaton Jennings, Matt Potts, Matthew Fisher and Alex Lees, who have played 34 Tests between them, are among the party.

Brydon Carse, who has played 17 white-ball internationals, is also involved.

The squad is largely drawn from the 21-player group which returned from a training camp in the United Arab Emirates last week. Those added include Somerset allrounder Kasey Aldridge and Lees, the top run-scorer across the County Championship in 2023 and who has two Test fifties.

The cupboard of spinners is added to by the presence of Jack Carson and James Coles from Sussex, Durham new-boy Callum Parkinson, Warwickshire's Dan Mousley and Ollie Price of Gloucestershire.

Alex Lees, last season's leading Championship run-scorer, is back in the fold (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

There is also wicketkeeping back-up in the form of James Rew, the 19-year-old who struck five Championship hundreds last summer.

Josh Bohannon, himself the top run-scorer in Division One, leads the party.

Men's performance director Mo Bobat said: "Playing a series in India at any level is a challenge to get excited about, it's one of the truest tests for any cricketer. It's great that our Lions team can experience that challenge and have the opportunity to showcase their skills in those conditions. 

"The squad has a strong core of players in it that were out in Abu Dhabi recently for the training camp, with some of those players already selected into the Test squad. There's also a return for some more experienced players which aligns with supporting England's more immediate needs."

Though the Lions will fulfil four fixtures throughout the trip, which runs from January 12-February 4, their main role will be to provide support to the Test group during a gruelling India series.

Jack Carson is part of the supporting group of spinners (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Selection of this squad means England will have 31 players in India to draw upon before and during the start of the series. "We do everything in conjunction with the Lions," the managing director of England's men Rob Key said this week. "It's a bonus to be able to have that."

Of the squad, it is Potts who has enjoyed the most recent Test run-out having been part of the pre-Ashes victory over Ireland at Lord's in June, while Jennings was the back-up opener - he got on the field as a substitute fielder - on last winter's tour of Pakistan.

Durham opener Lees was part of the first sector of the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes era, losing his place after the South Africa series after a rotten run of first-innings scores. Fisher's only Test appearance precedes that period; the draw with West Indies in Bridgetown, the penultimate match of Joe Root's captaincy in 2022.

England Lions squad: Josh Bohannon (c), Kasey Aldridge, Brydon Carse, Jack Carson, James Coles, Matt Fisher, Keaton Jennings, Tom Lawes, Alex Lees, Dan Mousley, Callum Parkinson, Matt Potts, Ollie Price, James Rew, Ollie Robinson

India A v England Lions fixtures:

January 12-13 - Narendra Modi Stadium – Ground B (Ahmedabad)

January 17-20 - Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad)

January 24-27- Narendra Modi Stadium, (Ahmedabad)

February 1-4- Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad)

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