Cliff Notes – Tongue, Woakes to play for Lions with one eye on first Test
- Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes have been selected for the England Lions squad, aiming to secure spots in the first Test against India following injuries to key seamers.
- Woakes is returning from an ankle injury and recently took six wickets for Warwickshire, while Tongue impressed in a previous match against Zimbabwe.
- The Lions squad is missing several players due to injuries, and competition for places in the seam attack intensifies with the absence of Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood.
Tongue, Woakes to play for Lions with one eye on first Test
Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes have been handed the chance to show they should be in England’s team for the first Test against India after they were named in the Lions squad for Friday’s tour match in Northampton.
Tongue featured in England’s innings win over Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge last month and has been added to the squad to face a strong India A side, which featured several Test players in the first tour match in Canterbury last week. Woakes took six wickets for Warwickshire in his recent comeback from an ankle injury and will step up his own preparations as planned.
England’s seam stocks took a significant blow on Tuesday with the news that Gus Atkinson is a major doubt for the first Test, which starts on June 20 at Headingley, after straining his hamstring against Zimbabwe. Mark Wood (knee) has already been ruled out of the series, while Jofra Archer (thumb) will not be match fit until the second Test at the absolute earliest.
Woakes and Tongue will be competing for spots in the seam attack with Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Sam Cook, with Shoaib Bashir set to continue as the frontline spinner and Ben Stokes contributing as an allrounder. Stokes previously floated the prospect of playing for the Lions at Northampton if required, but did not feature in the 13-man squad named on Wednesday.
The Lions are missing Sonny Baker (ankle) and Josh Hull (bruised heel) from their initial squad, while Zaman Akhter, Henry Crocombe and Dan Mousley have been released to play for their counties in the T20 Blast. Jordan Cox has been added to the squad as he continues his recovery from a side strain, while Rehan Ahmed has linked up with England’s T20I squad.
Karun Nair pushed his case for selection with his first-innings 204 in the first tour match at Canterbury, which fizzled out into a high-scoring draw. KL Rahul and Akash Deep are both expected to feature for them in Northampton, though Sai Sudharsan and new Test captain Shubman Gill are now due to travel with the main squad on Friday.
England Lions squad: James Rew (capt & wk), Farhan Ahmed, Jordan Cox, Rocky Flintoff, Emilio Gay, Tom Haines, George Hill, Max Holden, Ben McKinney, Eddie Jack, Ajeet Singh Dale, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.