Ben Cox to replace injured wicketkeeper Tom Moores for Lions' 50-over matches in Australia

Worcestershire wicketkeeper Ben Cox has earned his first call-up to the England Lions and will join the squad in Australia to replace the injured Tom Moores for the rest of their 50-overs campaign.

Nottinghamshire's Moores was struck while batting in the nets on Sunday and, with the Lions' four remaining matches being played in the space of eight days, the decision was taken for him to return to England to recover.

The Lions will face a Cricket Australia XI in two more limited-overs matches on the Gold Coast, having won the first match of the series on Sunday. They then travel to Sydney to play two matches against a New South Wales XI.

James Bracey was the Lions' opening batsman and wicketkeeper as they won the first match, in which the Cricket Australia XI captain, Will Pucovski, was concussed in a fall while running a single.

Cox is regarded as one of the neatest keepers on the county circuit and is capable of some big hitting, as shown when he sealed victory over Sussex in the 2018 Blast final with a six, capping a match-winning knock of 46 not out off 27 balls.

He played eight Royal London Cup matches in 2019, scoring 238 runs at 34.00 with 12 dismissals. Cox had the most dismissals of anyone in the Vitality Blast last season with 11 from 14 games, scoring 203 runs at an average of 25.37.

England Test trio Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Dom Bess will leave England for Sydney with the rest of the Lions' red-ball squad on Friday with hopes of securing spots on the senior side's tour of Sri Lanka in March.

The Lions play three four-day matches - one against a Cricket Australia XI in Hobart from February 15-18, followed by a day/night match against Australia A at the MCG and a fixture against a New South Wales XI in Wollongong.