Yorkshire young guns Noah Kelly and Louie Owens have been selected in an England Young Lions Invitational squad to face the Under 19s teams from Australia and Ireland later this month.
Batter Kelly and all-rounder Owens – both 17 – have been rewarded for some excellent form this summer.
Kelly has scored over 1,000 runs in all forms of cricket this summer, including for Yorkshire’s second team and in league cricket for Driffield Town.
All-rounder Owens is from the same Sheffield Collegiate production line as England star Joe Root.
The England selectors have named two squads for their forthcoming schedule of fixtures.
They have named a 16-man Under 19s squad for two Youth ODIs against Ireland and then five against Australia.
Another party of 18, under the banner of the Young Lions Invitational squad, has been selected for a two-day match against Australia and a 50-over game against Ireland. That is the squad which Kelly and Owens are in.
Yorkshire second-team coach Tom Smith said: “When you get the opportunity at whatever level to pull on an England shirt, it’s super exciting.
“It’s great news for the lads themselves and for Yorkshire to have lads in that setup.
“Noah has scored over 1,000 runs in all forms of cricket this year. For a young lad to go and do that is a great effort.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Noah Kelly.
“When he’s come into the second team, he’s scored runs and done really well. Then, in age-group cricket, he’s been scoring heavily as well.
“He had a really good week at the Super Fours Festival recently, scoring one hundred and a couple of seventies. He’s done well in red and white ball cricket, so he thoroughly deserves his chance to go and play for England.”
Smith continued: “He’s really come on over the last 6-12 months.
“When I first came to the club 18 months ago now, he was a bit more of a red ball, ‘I’m going to bat all day’ player. Now he’s progressed his game forward to be more assertive and aggressive.
“He’s expanded his shots, which has shown in the way he’s played his cricket.
“This year, he’s played some important roles – marshalling the tail and top order as well. To do that as such a young kid shows a lot about his character.”
Owens is a left-arm swing bowler who bats.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Louie Owens.
Smith said: “Louie has been in the system for a while. I’ve only really seen him for the last few months, but our guys have done a lot of hard work with him. He also did well at Super Fours.
“He’s a young left-arm seamer who can bat. He swings the ball back at decent pace and opens the bowling. He bats at seven, eight or nine.
“He’s a good fielder as well, and he has a lot of development to go.”
“He’s come off the back of some injury stuff, so he’s worked hard to get himself nice and fit. Credit to the medical staff, they’ve got him in good shape.
“I’m really excited for him and super chuffed.”
The two matches the Yorkshire duo have been selected for are a two-day game against Australia at Loughborough on August 22-23 and the one-day clash with Ireland at the same venue on August 25.
There is also a two Test Match series against Australia in September, though a squad is yet to be named.
Smith added: “Any series you play against Australia, there’s always going to be a bit of extra needle on it. Having watched the Ashes Test series just gone and the way that went, you couldn’t be more excited as a young lad to be involved it.”
England Young Lions Invitational XI squad: Charlie Allison (Essex), Yousaf Bin Naeem (Derbyshire), Tommy Boorman (Gloucestershire), Alex French (Surrey), Tom Giles (Nottinghamshire), Daniel Hogg (Durham), Travis Holland (Nottinghamshire), Haider Hussain (Lancashire), Noah Kelly (Yorkshire), Rhys Lewis (Middlesex), Freddie McCann (Nottinghamshire), Haydon Mustard (Durham), Louie Owens (Yorkshire), Jake Tarling (Leicestershire), Stuart Van Der Merwe (Surrey), Josh Thomas (Somerset), Raphael Weatherall (Northamptonshire), Theo Wylie (Warwickshire).
