Mass changes as Holden leads England Under-19s

Max Holden, an opening batsman from Middlesex, has been appointed to captain England's Under-19 in two four-day matches and a Royal London One-Day Series against Sri Lanka this summer.

Holden is one of only a handful of players remaining from England's squad for the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, partly because of the progress being made at county level by several players who remain eligible. Somerset's George Bartlett is the only other player in a 14-man squad for the four-day matches who was involved in the World Cup.

Somerset's Ben Green and the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Moores are included in a separate 14-man squad for the three-match 50-over series which ends with a day-night match in Canterbury.

Moores is one of three players in that one-day squad to have played county cricket this season - in his case during a loan spell with Lancashire in the NatWest T20 Blast. The others are Gloucestershire's George Hankins - who like Moores and Bartlett attended Millfield School - and the Essex seamer Aaron Beard.

Worcestershire provide most representatives, with Ben Twohig, Zen Malik, Josh Tongue and Josh Dell in both squads, and Ollie Westbury swelling their representation to five for the four-day matches.

David Graveney, chairman of selectors of the England Development Programme, said: "We always work closely with counties to decide what is best for the development of each player, and it has been pleasing to see that 14 players who represented England Under-19s over the last 12 months have played first-team cricket this season, including 11 of the 15 we took to the World Cup in Bangladesh - and in many cases have already made significant contributions. Clearly we took that into account in selecting this squad, and that has led to opportunities for a number of other players.

"We had initially planned for Jared Warner of Yorkshire to lead the team in the Royal London One-Day Series, but sadly he has a back issue which requires an indefinite break from the game, so Max will now be the captain in both formats.

"We have also agreed with Somerset that Ben Green, who is recovering after a foot operation, should not be considered for the four-day matches, and would be better building up his fitness in some second team games to be ready for our 50-over matches."

The Under-19s, under the supervision of the head of the EDP Andy Hurry, will meet up for a two-day match against Unicorns in Loughborough on July 21-22, before facing Sri Lanka in the first of the two four-day games at Fenner's.

Four-day matches: Max Holden (Middlesex, captain), Josh Dell, Zen Malik, Josh Tongue, Ben Twohig, Ollie Westbury (all Worcestershire), George Hankins (Gloucestershire), George Bartlett (Somerset), Ollie Pope (wk), Amar Virdi (both Surrey), George Panayi (Warwickshire), Aaron Beard (Essex), Ed Barnes (Yorkshire), Josh Coughlin (Durham).

Royal London One-Day Series: Max Holden (Middlesex, captain), Josh Dell, Zen Malik, Josh Tongue, Ben Twohig (all Worcestershire), George Hankins (Gloucestershire), George Bartlett, Dom Bess, Ben Green (all Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey, wk), Aaron Beard (Essex), Ed Barnes (Yorkshire), Tom Moores (wk), Jack Blatherwick (both Nottinghamshire).

Fixtures: July 21-22 v Unicorns (Loughborough); July 26-29 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Cambridge); August 3-6 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Northampton); August 10 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Royal London One-Day Series, Wormsley); August 13 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Royal London One-Day Series, Chelmsford); August 16 v Sri Lanka Under-19s (Royal London One-Day Series, Canterbury)