Worcestershire duo Jack Haynes and Josh Tongue have been named in the England Lions test squad heading out to Sri Lanka.
The pair will fly out on January for a three-week tour in which they will play two tests against Sri Lanka ‘A’.
It will be Haynes’ first tour with Lions after the batter took part in a three-week training camp in Abu Dhabi last November.
He said: “It’s brilliant news. Dubai was brilliant, good exposure, and to now have the opportunity to play a few games for the Lions is brilliant and looking forward to it.
“It was a good trip, a lot of full-on training, and to play against the test side at the end was good fun. It would have been nice to get a few more runs (36 off 42 balls), but all good.
“Sri Lanka will be a good test, playing in different conditions, hopefully learning more about my game, and playing overseas.”
In 2020 Haynes was part of the England side at the ICC Under-19s World Cup, during which he hit 68 against Sri Lanka in the plate competition final.
And he enjoyed a productive 2022 campaign at New Road, scoring three centuries in the County Championship.
“I’m looking to build on last season next summer,” Haynes added.
“I would have liked to have gone on and scored a few more runs, but hopefully, I keep improving on these sort of tours and have another good year for Worcestershire.”
Tongue’s call-up comes following a return to action with Worcestershire at the end of last season after a lengthy spell on the side-lines with a shoulder injury.
A former England Under-19s player, Tongue has been selected on three previous occasions for the Lions but had to withdraw each time because of various injuries.
Now, he is raring to go.
“Christmas came early for me with this news, but the hard work continues,” he said.
“The call-up came as a massive shock. I was in the hairdressers and I saw a missed call on my phone from Mo Bobat (ECB performance director).
“I was thinking ‘the Lions’ potentially, and he rang me back and said I was going to Sri Lanka. Over the moon.
“It is nice to have that recognition again with the Lions, and hopefully, I can go to Sri Lanka and impress even more.
“Not knowing where I was going to be a year ago because of the injury, and now going on the Lions tour is brilliant. I had to pinch myself a couple of times.”
The ECB have announced a 16-player test squad and a 16-player ODI squad for the tour.
Head coaches and captains for each squad are set to be announced soon.
Performance director Bobat said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to expose players to the challenges of playing A-team cricket in the sub-continent, which will be fantastic for their development.”
Haynes and Tongue will fly home on February 11 following the second test match.
SCHEDULE - England Lions tour of Sri Lanka (local times)
- Three-day warm-up match: SLC Board XI v England Lions; 25-27 January, RPICS Colombo (10am start)
- First four-day Test: Sri Lanka A v England Lions; 31 January – 3 February, GICS Galle (10am start)
- Second four-day Test: Sri Lanka A v England Lions; 7-10 February, GICS Galle (10am start)
- First ODI: Sri Lanka A v England Lions; 15 February, RPICS Colombo (10am start)
- Second ODI: Sri Lanka A v England Lions, 18 February, RPICS Colombo (10am start)
- Third ODI: Sri Lanka A v England Lions, 21 February, RPICS Colombo (10am start)
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