The touring Indian cricket team in England will play a three-day tour match against Select County XI from July 20-22 in order to strengthen their preparations for the upcoming five-match Test series starting on August 4 at Trent Bridge.
The Select County XI was announced on Thursday which included three uncapped players who have not played first-class cricket so far in their respective careers, along with some other players who are trying to make their way back into the England Test team.
England wicket-keeper batsman James Bracey and opening batsman Haseeb Hameed, who lost his place in the England Test team after the 2016-17 tour of India after an impressive debut, are the two players who are trying to get back into contention for selection in the home team’s Test side.
Bracey played two Test matches against New Zealand earlier in the English summer but had a forgettable time with the bat, scoring 0, 0 and 8 in the three outings and he also struggled behind the wickets with the gloves. However, England selectors are believed to be in the mood of giving Bracey further chances since he also has been around the team over the last one year or so.
England will also have to keep all options open given that their middle order batsman Ollie Pope is currently struggling with injury and is in a race against time in order to declare fitness for the opening Test match starting August 4.
Will Rhodes has been named the captain of the Select County XI to take on the visiting Indians in the tour match, which will also have three teenagers get to play their maiden first-class match. These include Rehan Ahmed, Tom Aspinwall and James Rew.
This tour match was never a part of the itinerary for the Indian cricket team in England, for which they arrived early in June in order to play the final of the ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand — a game in which they were thoroughly outplayed by the eventual winners.
The huge eight-wicket defeat in a way prompted Indian touring party to write to BCCI requesting a tour match ahead of the Test series against England, and their counterparts in ECB responded in kind, arranging both a ground as well as an opponent at a time when counties in England themselves are struggling to put proper playing XIs across their competitions such as County cricket and the upcoming The Hundred.
Select County XI squad: Will Rhodes (Warwickshire – captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Aspinwell (Lancashire), Ethan Bamber (Middlesex), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Jack Carson (Sussex), Zak Chappell (Nottinghamshire), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Lyndon James (Nottinghamshire), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Craig Miles (Warwickshire), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), James Rew (Somerset), Rob Yates (Warwickshire).
