England Lions kickstart their tour of United Arab Emirates with a one-off unofficial Test against Pakistan A at Abu Dhabi. It will be followed by the five unofficial ODIs and two T20s.
Pakistan A played a two-match unofficial Test series against New Zealand A earlier last month which ended in 0-0 draw. Keeping faith in the team, Pakistan Cricket Board has made a couple of tweaks in the squad for this one-off fixture. A couple of new faces in the bowling department have been named.
England Lions, on the other hand, have lost a couple of members of the initial squad to the injuries. However, they still look quite balanced with the familiar names like Sam Billings, Dominic Bess and Mark Wood in the ranks.
Jason Roy is unavailable for his Msanzi Super League commitment.
Matt Parkinson and Craig Overton have been ruled out with injuries.
Here’s how the two sides in Pakistan A vs New Zealand A 1st unofficial Test.
England Lions squad: Danny Briggs, Sam Billings (c & wk), Mark Wood, Jamie Overton, Nick Gubbins, Amar Virdi, Joe Clarke, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Liam Livingstone, James Porter, Saqib Mahmood, Max Holden, Ollie Pope and Dominic Bess.
Pakistan A squad: Khurram Manzoor, Shan Masood, Usman Salahuddin, Mohammad Saad, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Irfan, Ehsan Adil, Taj Wali, Sameen Gul, Ali Shafiq and Mohammad Asghar.
Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Usman Salahuddin and Mohammad Rizwan scored heavily in the recently concluded series against New Zealand A.
Ehsan Adil had decent returns with the ball for Pakistan A.
Ollie Pope, Sam Billings, Dominic Bess and Mark Wood are the safest picks among England Lions’ unit.