Rehan Ahmed ruled out of England Lions tour
Legspinner suffered muscle strain during England's Ashes warm-up fixture at Lilac Hill
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-Nov-2025 • 5 hrs ago
Rehan Ahmed will return home from Australia • Getty Images
Rehan Ahmed has been ruled out of any further participation on the England Lions tour of Australia after suffering a right lower leg strain during the Ashes warm-up match against England in Perth.
Legspinner Rehan batted at No. 5 for the Lions, making 16 off 41 balls on day one before becoming one of six wickets for England captain, Ben Stokes. He played no part with the ball, or in the Lions' second innings, with the ECB announcing afterwards that he would return home to begin his recovery.
Rehan had signed up to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the 2025-26 BBL, but the BBC reported that the injury was not expected to impact his involvement in the competition, which starts in a month's time.
England Lions are scheduled to play another four-day match at Lilac Hill, against a Cricket Australia XI, next week, before a one-off unofficial Test against Australia A in December. The Lions are also expected to be involved in a pink-ball tour game between England and the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra between the first and second Ashes Tests.
It had been speculated that Rehan, who missed out on selection as the second spinner in the main Ashes squad to Will Jacks, could stay on with England after the Lions programme concluded.