Davies ready to roar for Lions

Mark Davies took 7-33 at Old Trafford, removing Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Law and Mohammad Yousuf

Mark Davies may be the only England Lions quick without an international call-up to his name, but great things are expected of him in New Zealand.

Thirty-nine wickets in the LV County Championship helped Durham to their first title last summer and secured the 27-year-old a place as the principal swing bowler in the Lions squad that travels to the southern hemisphere on Saturday.

But as the genial paceman from Stockton-on-Tees told ecb.co.uk, this tour poses new questions of a man now seemingly over his injury problems.

“It applies a different type of pressure on me,” said Davies. “Going to India, people expected me either to fail or not be quite as effective on those sorts of pitches.

“I haven’t played in New Zealand before, but people say the ball nips around a bit. I’ll have to wait and see.

“People may think I’ll be the main wicket-taker because conditions suit me. I know Charlie Shreck went out there a couple of years ago and did very well. I’m really looking forward to having a bowl there.”

Davies was a member of the 16-man England Performance Programme squad chosen to shadow the full England party on the tour of India before Christmas.

The atrocities in Mumbai put paid to that. The EPP’s two tour games were cancelled, and the squad swiftly flown back to London.

But it didn’t end there for Davies. When England decided to return for the two-Test series, he was one of nine EPP players who stepped into the void and flew to Abu Dhabi to provide net bowling practice for England’s batsmen while they prepared in the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

“It was a great opportunity to get a good look at what was going on in the England camp, to see what we are expected to be like in international cricket,” said Davies.

“It was a chance to see how the likes of Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff go about their game.

Ravi Bopara will join Kevin Pietersen in the IPL after the Lions tour to New Zealand

“With that, and our time in Loughborough as a Lions squad, it’s been great to be around such a strong standard of cricketers day in, day out.”

All that to-ing and fro-ing helps explain why Davies is so eager to get some hard cricket under his belt.

He has not played a competitive match since the championship-sealing clash at Canterbury.

Davies was Harmison’s regular opening partner last season, but with Sajid Mahmood, Amjad Khan and Liam Plunkett in the Lions squad this winter, will Davies get his hands on the new ball?

“It’s going to be tough," he admitted. "Sajid Mahmood and Amjad Khan have quite a bit of pace in their locker, so I would have thought they’d get the nod.

“Kevin Shine [EPP bowling coach] has been quite hands-on. He’s got some interesting views on bowling.

“He’s been really thorough with lines and lengths for New Zealand. There’s not much room for error with Shiney. He takes great pride in the finer details of bowling.”

The Lions play two warm-up matches against a New Zealand Emerging Players’ XI, before two unofficial ‘Tests’ and three limited-overs matches against New Zealand A.

Jesse Ryder captained a side featuring internationals Neil Broom and Martin Guptill to an Emerging Players Tournament win in Australia in 2008. And, while Black Caps commitments could rule them out this time, it appears like a strong opposition could be in store for England’s second string.

With another Lions team-mate, Ravi Bopara, decamping for the Indian Premier League not long after the tour, Davies must feel within touching distance of the top.

“I’d like to think so," he said. "Any chance you get to be connected with England is a great honour. Any international opportunity thrown my way I’ll be willing to accept.

“There’s been a bit of banter about the IPL, lads winding each other up about it.

“But we’ve seen how talented Ravi is. If emerging English talent can pitch themselves against the best in the world then that has to be good.

“I’m still trying to get to grips being selected for the Lions. I’ve never had this sort of opportunity. But if I can back up what I’ve done leading up to this for Durham, that will do me.”