Bajan to captain England A' team
Mark Alleyne, the 32-year-old all-rounder who has led Gloucestershire to an unprecedented four limited-overs title in the past two seasons, was yesterday named captain of the England "A" team to take part in next season's Busta Cup
19-Sep-2000
Mark Alleyne, the 32-year-old all-rounder who has led Gloucestershire to an unprecedented four limited-overs title in the past two seasons, was yesterday named captain of the England "A" team to take part in next season's Busta Cup. Born in London of Barbadian parents, Alleyne had his early schooling at Harrison College in Barbados where he led the Under-15 team to the inter-schools title in 1982. He has played One-Day Internationals, but no Tests, for England.
Fast bowler Alex Tudor, also born in Britain to parents who emigrated from Barbados in 1962, is another player of West Indian origin in the 16.
Eight of the players are 22 and under, six have played Test cricket, another three One-Day Internationals and 14 have graduated from England's Under-19 team. Eight survive from the "A" tour to Bangladesh and New Zealand latelast year.
David Graveney, chairman of the England selectors, said yesterday it would be a "good challenge" for the England reserves to play in the Busta Cup.
"A greater edge willbe given to the matches,"he said.
"Of course we will go aiming to win the competition, but it is also important that all the players fully participate in the tour and are given the opportunities to show how they can perform.
"It has been a very difficult squad to select, and there may be many players who feel that they had a chance of being chosen." The team (ages as of January 1, 2001):
Mark Alleyne, captain, age 32 (Gloucestershire); Usman Afzaal, 24 (Nottinghamshire), Jason Brown, 26 (Northamptonshire), John Crawley*, vice-captain, 29 (Lancashire), James Foster, wicket-keeper, 20 (Essex), Paul Franks, 21 (Nottinghamshire), Aftab Habib*, 28 (Leicestershire), Stephen Harmison, 22 (Durham), Chris Read*, wicket-keeper, 22 (Nottinghamshire), David Sales, 23 (Northamptonshire), Chris Schofield*, 23 (Lancashire), Ryan Sidebottom, 22 (Yorkshire), Chris Silverwood*, 25 (Yorkshire), Vikram Solanki, 24 (Worcestershire), Alex Tudor*, 23 (Surrey), Ian Ward, 27 (Surrey). Manager: James Whittaker. * - Indicates played Test cricket.