London [UK], January 28 : England men's test captain Ben Stokes and the former England player Moeen Ali are set to join another former cricketer, Andrew Flintoff, on the England Lions coaching setup for a white-ball series against Pakistan Shaheens in Abu Dhabi in February-March.
Ben Stokes is recovering from the groin injury he suffered while bowling in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney earlier this month. Moeen Ali, who also reversed his retirement from English domestic cricket to join Yorkshire for the T20 Blast, will join the England Lions coaching setup that, along with Stokes and Flintoff, also includes Troy Cooley, Neil McKenzie, Sarah Taylor, Neil Killeen, and Amar Rashid, as per the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) website.
Jordan Cox and Dan Mousley will captain the England Lions' T20 and 50-over squads, respectively, during the white-ball series in the United Arab Emirates. Notably, the tour will be the first time England Lions will play an away white-ball series since their trip to Sri Lanka in February 2022. The Lions will also host South Africa A and Sri Lanka in white-ball cricket this year, with white-ball tours also planned for the future.
The selectors have named a 17-player squad for the three-match T20 series, with a 16-player squad announced for the five 50-over matches.
England Lions T20 squad: Sonny Baker, Luc Benkenstein, James Coles, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox (capt), Scott Currie, Calvin Harrison, Eddie Jack, Saqib Mahmood, Ben McKinney, Tom Moores, Dan Mousley, Matt Revis, Will Smeed, Nathan Sowter, Mitchell Stanley, Asa Tribe.
England Lions 50-over squad: Sonny Baker, Luc Benkenstein, James Coles, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Scott Currie, Calvin Harrison, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Dan Mousley (capt), Liam Patterson-White, Matthew Potts, Matt Revis, James Rew, Mitchell Stanley, Asa Tribe, James Wharton.