Derbyshire quick bowler Sam Conners has been called up to the England Under-19s squad for the series against South Africa.
The Cricket Derbyshire Academy in partnership with the University of Derby bowler has raw pace and impressed the international coaches at a recent Invitational XI fixture against the touring South Africans in Loughborough.
He joins fellow Derbyshire seamer Alfie Gleadall and 17-year-old spinner Hamidullah Qadri for the series which gets underway with a Youth Test at Scarborough, starting on Sunday 8 July.
Three other players have been added to the England squad to travel to Scarborough: Ben Charlesworth, a left-hander from Gloucestershire who scored a century for the Invitational XI against the South Africans this week; George Lavelle, a wicketkeeper-batsman from Lancashire who also impressed in that game; and Nick Kimber, another seamer from the Nottinghamshire Academy who was drafted into the England Under-19s team for their preparation match against the Unicorns after impressing in practice.
Conners has featured in a number of Second XI matches this summer under the coaching of Head of Development, Mal Loye. The young quick has best figures of 3-59 against Yorkshire Second XI.
Loye, who has been instrumental in the development of the young trio, will also join the England Under-19s set up as Batting Coach for the series.
England Under-19s Head coach Lewis said: “I’ve never seen the Under-19s play at Test level, and for all of us the chance to test ourselves against the best young players from South Africa is a really exciting one.”
England will announce a separate squad early in July for the three-match Royal London One-Day Series against South Africa that follows, with the first game at the Emirates Riverside on July 23 being televised live on Sky Sports, followed by matches at South Northumberland and Scarborough.
Tom Banton (Somerset, captain), Liam Banks (Warwickshire), Ben Charlesworth (Gloucestershire), Sam Conners (Derbyshire), Jack Davies (Middlesex), Adam Finch (Worcestershire), Alfie Gleadall (Derbyshire), Jack Haynes (Worcestershire), Luke Hollman (Middlesex), Nick Kimber (Nottinghamshire), George Lavelle (Lancashire), Jack Plom (Essex), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire), Oli Robinson (Kent), Harrison Ward (Sussex)
Fixtures
July 8-11 – first Youth Test v South Africa Under-19s (Scarborough)
July 16-19 – second Youth Test v South Africa Under-19s (Emirates Riverside)
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