JACK Morley has been given the chance to take another step up the cricketing ladder to stardom.
The 17-year-old product of the youth system at Crimble has been selected for the England Under-19s Young Lions squad for the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh – even though he will not reach the age of 18 until June.
He is one of two Lancashire players, alongside George Balderson of Hyde, named in a party of 15 to take on their Bangladesh counterparts for:
+ A T20 clash at Cox’s Bazar on January 27.
+ Three one-day internationals at the same venue on January 29, 31 and February 2.
+ Two Under-19 Tests in Chittagong from February 7-10 and 15-18.
The squad flies out from Heathrow on January 19 and returns on February 20, and Jack’s selection follows being picked for the Young Lions training squad in India towards the end of 2018.
Surrey’s James Smith will be captain for the T20 game and One-Day Internationals, while Tom Lammonby takes over for the Tests.
The full Young Lions party is: Kasey Aldridge (Somerset), George Balderson (Lancs), Ben Charlesworth (Gloucs), Jordan Cox (Kent), Adam Finch (Worcs), Lewis Goldsworthy (Somerset), George Hill (Yorks), Luke Hollman (Middlesex), Tom Lammonby (Somerset), Dominic Leech (Yorks), Jack Morley (Lancs), Dan Mousley (Warwicks), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbys), Will Smeed (Somerset) and Jamie Smith (Surrey).
Head coach is Jon Lewis, the former England and Gloucestershire pace bowler, who said: “As is always the case for any trip to the sub-continent we’re expecting an extremely tough time.
“Bangladesh are a force to be reckoned with in their own conditions, as we’ve seen from when our senior side has travelled there. We expect it to be incredibly hard.
“However, I’m very pleased with this group. We worked very hard before Christmas and during our training camp in India, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the players adapt to the conditions and to what they can learn from this trip as they continue their journey.”
The Young Lions were given an expert preview of what they can expect in the sub-continent with a master class of playing spin bowling by Ian Bell, the Warwickshire and England star.
The former England A and Under-19 captain, who amassed 7,727 runs in his Test career, went to a pre-Christmas training get-together at Loughborough to help the youngsters prepare for facing up to the spinning ball.
Alongside him were specialist coaches Michael Yardy (Sussex), Min Patel (Kent) and Steve Snell (Somerset), who will be on hard on a daily basis on the Bangladesh tour.
Jack was forced to come home early from the training squad in India with a broken toe but is now fully recovered, and said: “Obviously, I’m over the moon and looking forward to the Bangladesh experience.”
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