Toby Roland-Jones has been called into Paul Farbrace’s South squad for the first North-South Series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi next month.
The Middlesex all-rounder replaces Kent’s Matt Coles, who was one of the eight players to earn automatic selection through their performances in the 2016 Royal London One-Day Cup – but who suffered a toe injury on the Spitfires’ recent trip to Antigua to play in the West Indies domestic 50-over competition.
Roland-Jones was also riding high in the MVP Rankings supported by the Professional Cricketers’ Association at the end of the group stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup.
He is currently in Sri Lanka with England Lions, scoring 82 and taking four wickets in the first innings of their victory in the first four-day match against Sri Lanka A in Kandy.
He will join fellow Lions Tom Alsop, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ben Foakes and Tom Curran in the South squad, with Keaton Jennings to lead a North team including five other members of the Lions squad for the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka A - Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Liam Livingstone, Josh Poysden and Graeme White.
Farbrace, the England assistant coach, will be Head Coach for the South, with England’s fast-bowling coach Ottis Gibson Head Coach of the North.
The North-South Series will take place on 17 and 19 March (both Dubai International Cricket Stadium) and 21 March (Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi).
Squads
North:
K Jennings (Durham, capt)
B Duckett (Northamptonshire Steelbacks*)
S Hain (Warwickshire)
J Clarke (Worcestershire Rapids, wk)
L Livingstone (Lancashire Lightning)
J Leaning (Yorkshire Vikings)
T Bresnan (Yorkshire Vikings*)
J Poysden (Warwickshire)
G White (Northamptonshire Steelbacks*)
M Wood (Durham)
S Mahmood (Lancashire Lightning)
R Gleeson (Northamptonshire Steelbacks)
H Gurney (Notts Outlaws*)
South:
J Vince (Hampshire, capt)
D Bell-Drummond (Kent Spitfires)
T Alsop (Hampshire)
D Malan (Middlesex)
S Northeast (Kent Spitfires)
L Dawson (Hampshire*)
B Foakes (Surrey, wk)
T Curran (Surrey)
L Gregory (Somerset*)
T Groenewald (Somerset*)
T Roland-Jones (Middlesex)
S Finn (Middlesex)
M Crane (Hampshire)
* automatic selection through position in Professional Cricketers’ Association’s Most Valuable Player rankings for the 2016 Royal London One-Day Cup