Five England Lions pushing for senior selection after UAE tour

The England Lions finished their tour of the UAE by beating Pakistan A in their last T20I by four wickets, and with the England squad for their tour of the West Indies announced on Monday, we look at which uncapped Lions are pushing for a place...

Saqib Mahmood

The 21-year-old Lancashire fast bowler has impressed greatly on the tour. Over three ODIs and two T20Is, he has taken nine wickets at an average of 20.66. This included a match-winning 4/14 in the first unofficial T20I which helped England to win by four wickets.

Mahmood is yet to establish himself as a regular in the Lancashire side, and until then he is unlikely to make a senior international appearance. However, with the Red Rose suffering relegation from Divison One, he should see his opportunities increase. With 21 first-class wickets at 26.38 over seven matches, the potential is definitely there if given the chance.

^{Saqib Mahmood took nine wickets at 20.66 for the England Lions}

Sam Billings

The promotion-winning Kent captain also captained England during their only unofficial Test and was one of the few batsmen in that match to come out with any credit. He top-scored in England's first innings with a mature 74 not out, and has already featured for England's senior side in over 30 white-ball matches.

Billings is clearly well-rated by selectors, and has been a member of the England Lions setup for a number of years. However, what might work against him is his somewhat modest record when he has actually featured for the England senior side - having only gone past 50 on three occasions. He does have the advantage of knowing he will be playing Division One cricket next year, and if he can get some form going, then his chances of selection could be quite short.

Joe Clarke

Hopes for Joe Clarke have been high for quite some time, and his 107 in the second innings of the only unofficial Test during the tour was noteworthy in spite of the Lions failure to win the match - particularly when you consider the next-highest score in that innings was 38.

Clarke will be featuring in Division One of the County Championship for Nottinghamshire next season, having left Worcestershire, who were relegated to Division Two. Clarke's quality is pretty much proven, and it is more a matter of when rather than if he gets picked. However, cases like James Hildreth show that sometimes the best players just don't get the luck.

^{Joe Clarke was the only man to score a century for the England Lions during the tour}

Lewis Gregory

It was a good tour for the Somerset T20 captain as he took nine wickets across three ODIs and two T20Is at 31.66, and got the opportunity to captain the side for the first time in the first ODI. England won two of the three matches which he captained them in with Greogry contributing with both bat and ball on different occasions.

He is another player on this list who has been in the hunt for an England cap for a number of years now, having been called up to the England ODI squad without featuring in 2015. He is a staple of a strong Somerset side who have performed well over the past number of years and if he can continue in the vein he has, then he will definitely be in with a shout of a call-up.

Alex Davies

The second Lancashire player on this list, Alex Davies scored 183 runs at 30.50 across five ODIs and one T20I. The wicketkeeper-batsman top-scored in two of the unofficial ODIs, scoring 76 in the second as the Lions won by six wickets and then a brave 42 in the fourth as they were beaten by 181 runs.

Davies endured a relatively indifferent season for Lancashire as part of a batting order which failed to consistently score good runs as they ultimately suffered relegation. If he can return to the form which saw him score 916 runs at 39.82 during the 2017 County Championship season, then he could be the next batsman to occupy the opening berth should things deteriorate for Rory Burns or Keaton Jennings.

^{Alex Davies top-scored in two matches for the England Lions}