- England Lions cricket team
The England Lions (formerly England A) cricket team is a
cricket team representing England and Wales. It is the "second-tier" of international English cricket below the fullEngland cricket team , and is largely intended as a way for promising young cricketers to gain experience of playing international cricket. Although primarily intended as a touring team, for several years in the 1990s they played one match in England at the start of each season: between 1992 and 1995 against the previous season's county champion and in 1996 and 1997 against a Rest of England team. England A also played two List A games against the full Sri Lankan touring side in England in 1991.Although an "England B" side had played one game against the Pakistanis in 1982 and had made a full tour of
Sri Lanka in 1985/86, the first tour by a team named "England A" was toZimbabwe in 1989/90, and consisted of three first-class matches and three 50-over games. On this occasion England A played against the full Zimbabwe side, but on subsequent tours their most important opponents have usually been the equivalent A teams of the countries they have been touring. However, England A has never played a match against their Australian counterparts.They also often play matches against state or provincial sides, and in 2000/01 England A participated in the
Busta Cup , the West Indian domestic first-class competition, finishing in third place out of the eight teams taking part. In 2003/04 England A took part inIndia 'sDuleep Trophy competition, but failed to progress beyond the group stages after losing both their matches. There were no England A matches played in the period between these two tours.The newly rebranded England Lions was then integrated with the
ECB National Academy , with touring parties taken from the Academy squad. On15 June ,2007 , it was announced by the ECB (English & Welsh Cricket Board) the inaugural Lions side would play a one-day touring warm-up match against the West Indies atWorcester . [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6756931.stm Solanki to lead England 'Lions'] ",2007-06-15 ,BBC Sport . Retrieved on2007-06-21 .] Later in the summer against the touring Indians the Lions drew a 3 day match atChelmsford . [" [http://www.ecb.co.uk/england/england-lions/lions-india,13903,EN.html Strauss calls the tune] ",England and Wales Cricket Board .] and had a one day match abandoned due to rain atNorthampton . [" [http://www.ecb.co.uk/england/england-lions/schofield-given-england-a-chance,14491,EN.html Deluge denies Lions] ",England and Wales Cricket Board .]On
4 January ,2008 the squad for the England Lions tour ofIndia was named, with Sussex batsmanMichael Yardy named as captain. The team will compete in the 2008Duleep Trophy domestic first-class competition in addition to friendly matches. [" [http://www.ecb.co.uk/england/england-lions/yardy-leads-lions-in-india,15934,EN.html Yardy leads Lions in India] ",2008-01-04 ,England and Wales Cricket Board . Retrieved on2008-01-04 .]England Lions Representatives 2005/06 to 2007/08
Players who have played Test Matches and/or ODIs for England are in bold. Current England players are marked with an asterisk (*) (Tests) and/or a hash (#) (ODIs).
eason-by-season results summary
Notes
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