A seamer, a 'keeper and a Championship run-maker: The England Lions you might not know

CHARLIE PETERS profiles five players included in the 14-strong Lions squad set to tour Australia alongside the Ashes squad who could make an impression this winter

Josh Bohannon

Club: Lancashire

Age: 24

First-class record: Runs - 1862; Average – 44.62; 100s – 3; 50s – 11

The Bolton-born batter earns his maiden Lions call-up after an 853-run LV=Insurance County Championship campaign saw him finish but one place outside of the top 10 on the run-scorers table. A high score of 170 against eventual county champions Warwickshire was the highlight of a fruitful 2021, in which he averaged 53.31, predominantly batting at three and four.

The right-hander, who also bowls useful medium-pace, recently picked up Lancashire’s Championship Player of the Year award, after claiming their Young Player of the Year award in 2019, and has been on many pundits’ radar for England ever since making his maiden first-class century against Derbyshire in 2019.

Bohannon had originally broken through in Lancashire’s limited-overs teams, with 22 appearances in both List A and T20 cricket to his name. But it was in the red-ball stuff that he truly found his calling. With impressive career stats and a dominant 2021 campaign in the bag, Bohannon has done more than enough to justify his tag as one of England’s next middle-order cabs off the rank.

England Lions group confirmed for Australia tour in support of Ashes squad

Liam Norwell

Club: Warwickshire

Age: 29

First-class record: Wickets – 320; Average – 25.34; SR – 47:00; 5w – 13

England’s Ashes squad is not exactly brimming with express pace options. And while Liam Norwell is not quite the 95mph man the nation has been searching for, the Warwickshire seamer has height, strength and bounce on his side.

After moving to Edgbaston from Gloucestershire at the conclusion of the 2018 season, the right-armer went from strength to strength. He grabbed 49 wickets at an average of 18.26 in 2021’s Championship season, including a lethal 6 for 67 against Lancashire at the business end of the season. Alongside fellow pacer Craig Miles, Norwell was a vital cog in Warwickshire’s title-winning campaign, forming a formidable new-ball partnership.

He impressed his fellow professionals too, with ex-Kent batter Fabian Cowdrey tweeting “Liam Norwell looks like the type of fast bowler who could have success at test level. Good skills, strong, seams it around and has good pace.” At 29, the Bournemouth-born bowler is approaching the prime of his career: if he impresses in the intra-squad games prior to the Ashes, anything could happen. 

^{Matthew Fisher is finally injury-free}

Jamie Smith

Club: Surrey

Age: 21

First-class record: Runs – 1,395; Average – 36.71; 100s – 4; 50s – 4

Jamie Smith set the bar high when he made a stunning century on Surrey debut against the MCC in the Champion County match in 2019. His score of 127, which set a new record for the highest score on debut by a Surrey batter, marked him out as a player of serious potential for the future.

It’s potential that the keeper-batter has lived up to with aplomb. Leicestershire and Birmingham Phoenix analyst Dan Weston claimed the Surrey man is “a player who for two+ years has been miles ahead of players of a similar age to him”, and with a 2021 campaign that saw 656 runs at an average of 43.73, it is easy to see where he is coming from.

Alec Stewart’s decision to hand him the captaincy in the Royal London Cup spoke volumes of the high regard he is held in by his county, not to mention the composure and class with which the 21-year-old handles himself. It would be unlikely to see Smith in the running to be added to England’s main Ashes squad at this stage in his career, but the tour will do wonders for him in terms of experience. Unquestionably a Test cricketer in waiting.

Matthew Fisher

Club: Yorkshire

Age: 23

First-class record: Wickets – 61; Average- 27.04; SR – 50.00; 5w – 2

It almost beggars belief that the Yorkshire seamer is still just 23: he seems to have been around for ages. Fisher made his county bow aged 15, becoming the youngest county cricketer of all time in the process. He has always been spoken about with high regard – former teammate Tim Bresnan reckoned he was “going to become an unbelievable bowler” – and the promise and potential was always clear.

Injuries have hampered much of his career so far, but when the right-armer has been fit, his Championship returns have been impressive. Match figures of 9 for 64 helped Yorkshire to a convincing innings victory over Somerset in September, including a first-innings five-for with the new ball. Those are the kinds of performances that make selectors stand up and take notice.

His various ailments will be a concern for England moving forward, but after an uninterrupted 2021 campaign – that included a call-up to Northern Superchargers in The Hundred – they will have hope that the worst of it is behind him. There’s little doubting that the ingredients are there for Fisher to become a seam bowler of serious talent moving forward.

^{Alex Lees has enjoyed a fruitful season with Durham}

Alex Lees

Club: Durham

Age: 28

First-class record: Runs – 7,07;, Average – 35.19; 100s – 17; 50s – 35

The opener’s career began with great promise at his home county of Yorkshire, being widely tipped for red ball England honours before being handed the White Rose reigns for limited-overs cricket at just 22. He stagnated somewhat after, though, culminating in a much-needed move away to Durham in 2018.

Since then, the left-hander has turned things around considerably, becoming one of the Championship’s most consistent performers in the process. He made three tons in his first season in the North East: his Lions selection comes off the back of a strong 2021 Championship campaign, in which he made 625 runs at an average of 39.06, including five half-centuries, and 129 against eventual champions Warwickshire. And his 562 Royal London Cup runs – only teammate Graham Clark scored more – will have done him no harm in the eyes of the England selectors either.

It’s a richly deserved call-up for a player who has done all he can to reinvigorate his career. By no means is it out of the question that he ends the Ashes as the newest name on board England’s carousel of Test openers.

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