Dawid Malan to captain England Lions squad

Middlesex batsman Dawid Malan will lead a young England Lions squad in a 50-over Tri-Series against the A-teams of Pakistan and Sri Lanka later this month.

The left-hander, prolific in the NatWest T20 Blast this season, is rewarded for his fine performances for the Lions against Pakistan A last winter.

At 28, Malan is the oldest player in a 13-man squad which has an average age of 22 and includes three members of England's squad for the U19 World Cup earlier this year - Lancashire's Saqib Mahmood, Sussex's George Garton and the Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran.

Hampshire's Liam Dawson and Kent keeper Sam Billings are the only two members of the Lions squad to have played senior international cricket.

Northamptonshire's Ben Duckett, Worcestershire's Brett D'Oliveira - who have both enjoyed fine seasons with the bat - and Lancashire's Liam Livingstone are also included in the Lions squad for the first time.

Kent's Daniel Bell-Drummond, Worcestershire's Joe Clarke and Somerset's Jamie Overton join Malan, Dawson, Billings and Tom Curran to provide continuity from the winter.

Andy Flower, who will again be the head coach, said: "It is important for the Lions to play home matches in the summer as well as touring during the winter for a number of reasons.

"We are grateful to the counties for recognising that if we are going to reap the benefits of playing abroad in the winter, we have to offer the equivalent opportunity to the developing cricketers of Sri Lanka and Pakistan."

The series starts on Monday July 18 at Cheltenham.

Squad: Dawid Malan, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Brett D'Oliveira, Sam Billings, Liam Livingstone, Liam Dawson, Tom Curran, Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood, George Garton, Sam Curran (Surrey, for the last two games only)