Worcestershire Academy player, Ben Parker, has been named in the England Under-19 squad for the opening LV Insurance Under-19 Test against Sri Lanka at Chelmsford starting on Sunday.
Parker has earned his opportunity after his performance for the Under-19s in a warm-up match against the Ireland Academy at Loughborough this week.
The pace bowler, who now plays club cricket for York CC, returned figures of 3-15 from nine overs in the second innings of England’s three-wicket win in the three-day fixture.
Parker has been a member of the Worcestershire CCC Academy intake for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 and was part of the senior squad for last summer’s Royal London Cup campaign.
He has been sidelined during the middle part of this season with a heel injury but is now fit and firing for the finale to the campaign.
Worcestershire Academy Coach, Elliot Wilson, said: “It’s fantastic news for Ben. He was called up for the warm-up game for the series against Sri Lanka and his performances have merited select into the full squad for the first Test.
“He bowled tidily in the first innings and really well in the second innings when he took three wickets.
“Perversely, it has worked out really well because, having had two months off through injuries, he is fresh at the moment and firing at the end of August when a lot of guys are tired.
“This opportunity has come at a great time for him when he is just getting going again.
“I’m really hopeful he is going to have a really strong finish to the summer and we are hopeful of impressive things from him in the years to come.
“He has played a lot of second team cricket over the past couple of years and is now playing his club cricket for York CC and made a real positive impression up there.”
Durham’s Ben McKinney has been appointed as captain for the four-day fixture at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford.
In consultation with their respective teams, 14 players in contention for England Men’s U19 selection will continue to participate in domestic cricket to keep gaining valuable first-team experience.
This includes some of the players who featured in the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup squad earlier this year, including Rehan Ahmed (Southern Brave/Leicestershire), Sonny Baker (Southern Brave/Somerset), James Rew (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Welsh Fire/Warwickshire), James Coles (Sussex), Will Luxton (Yorkshire), Tom Prest (Hampshire), James Sales (Northamptonshire) and Fateh Singh (Nottinghamshire).
ECB’s Elite Performance Pathway Coach, Richard Dawson, said: “We’re really looking forward to this series and seeing how a wide range of the best young men’s players in this country adapt to the challenge and opportunity of international age-group cricket.
“Already this season it’s been encouraging to see a number of the guys from our World Cup squad earning regular selection for their counties and making some significant contributions.
“The key for us when selecting a squad is working out with the counties what’s best for each individual player, and for the first Test match – in a number of cases – we agreed that it was best for them to continue playing domestic cricket.
“That removes some experience from our squad, but it also increases the challenge and opportunity for the guys who have been selected.”
The selectors will name a squad for the second LV= Insurance Test ahead of that match, which begins on 28 August at the Incora County Ground in Derby, before naming a squad for the three-match Royal London U19s Series.
ENGLAND UNDER-19 SQUAD – Ben McKinney (Durham – captain), Tom Aspinwall (Lancashire), George Bell (Lancashire), Tommy Boorman (Gloucestershire), Ben Cliff (Yorkshire), Bertie Foreman (Sussex), Alex Horton (Glamorgan), Matthew Hurst (Lancashire), Eddie Jack (Hampshire), Dominic Kelly (Hampshire), Ben Parker (Worcestershire), Harry Singh (Lancashire), Ross Whitfield (Durham)
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FIXTURES
Sunday 21 – Wednesday 24 August: First LV= Insurance U19 Test – England U19 v Sri Lanka U19; Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford
Sunday 28 – Wednesday 31 August: Second LV= Insurance U19 Test – England U19 v Sri Lanka U19; Incora County Ground, Derby.
Monday 5 September: First Royal London U19 International – England U19 v Sri Lanka U19; New Road, Worcester.
Thursday 8 September: Second Royal London U19 International – England U19 v Sri Lanka U19; New Road, Worcester.
Saturday 10 September: Third Royal London U19 International – England U19 v Sri Lanka U19; Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester.
