Young talent given chance to impress

A group of England's talented young players have been given a chance to impress the selectors after a development squad was named to face Sri Lanka A at Old Trafford. Lancashire were initially due to provide the opposition but are now involved in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals.

That means a chance to have a look at players moving through the county system and who are a level below England Lions selection. Surrey provide four of the squad - Tom Maynard, Zafar Ansari, Jason Roy and Matthew Dunn - while Essex pace bowler, Tymal Mills, who is reportedly very sharp has also been included.

A few of players could yet push themselves into Lions contention for the winter with Maynard, who left Glamorgan for Surrey before this season, probably at the top of that list after a productive summer where he has scored 758 Championship runs at 42.11. Roy, meanwhile, has been dubbed "a mini KP" by his coach, Chris Adams, because of his flamboyant approach with the bat.

"We have selected some very promising young cricketers for the Development XI who have impressed in first-class cricket this season," David Graveney, the national performance manager, said. "The majority of players have been involved in the England U-19 programme in recent years and this fixture is not only an acknowledgement of their progress since the U19s, it also provides an important opportunity for these players to impress selectors ahead the England Performance Programme this winter."

Squad Zafar Ansari, Moin Ashraf, Josh Cobb, Chris Dent, Matthew Dunn, Ateeq Javid, Tom Maynard, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Jason Roy, John Simpson