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Archie to lead Young Lions in South Africa
Somerset all-rounder Archie Vaughan will captain England Men U19s for the first time on their upcoming tour of South Africa. Somerset’s Thomas Rew has also been named in the squad.
Vaughan will lead an 18-player squad across three Youth ODIs and two Youth Test matches.
After being awarded the captaincy, Archie said: “I found out that I was going to be captain during the training camp before Christmas and it was a very special moment. To get the opportunity to represent England at this level is really special in itself, but to lead the team out is something else!
“I try to stay as level headed as possible and bring a calming presence to the field, and I’ll go out there and try to do my thing with the bat and the ball.
“It will obviously be a good challenge and we’ll have to adapt to the conditions. The training camp that we had over there before Christmas was really beneficial and we’re all ready and raring to go.
“If someone had told me 12 months ago that I would have forced my way into the Somerset First Team and be captaining the Under 19s I wouldn’t have believed them. It’s happened quickly but I’m going to keep my feet on the ground and work harder and harder. The next step is to try and win in South Africa and hopefully I can perform as well.”
The squad will fly out tomorrow (Thursday January 9th) with the opening Youth ODI at Cape Town on Friday January 17th.
The two-match Test series begins in Stellenbosch on Sunday January 26th before the second Youth Test in Cape Town starts on Monday February 3rd.
Young Lions Head Coach, Michael Yardy, said: “After putting in a lot of purposeful work on really good camp before Christmas, we get the opportunity to play against South Africa Under-19s, which will be very exciting for the boys competing in an England shirt.”
England Men U19s squad for tour of South Africa
Archie Vaughan (Somerset – captain)
Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire)
Tazeem Ali (Warwickshire)
Ben Dawkins (Kent)
Kesh Fonseka (Lancashire – Test squad only)
Alex French (Surrey)
Alex Green (Leicestershire)
Jack Home (Worcestershire)
James Isbell (Middlesex)
Eddie Jack (Hampshire)
Ben Mayes (Hampshire)
James Minto (Durham)
Harry Moore (Derbyshire)
Joe Moores (Lancashire – ODIs only)
Thomas Rew (Somerset)
Aaryan Sawant (Middlesex)
Naavya Sharma (Middlesex)
Alexander Wade (Yorkshire)
England Men U19s tour schedule in South Africa
Tuesday 14 January: 50-over warm-up – England Men U19s v Western Province CC, Cape Town.
Friday 17 January: 1st Youth ODI – England Men U19s v South Africa Men U19s, Western Province CC, Cape Town
Sunday 19 January: 2nd Youth ODI – England Men U19s v South Africa Men U19s, Western Province CC, Cape Town
Wednesday 22 January: 3rd Youth ODI – England Men U19s v South Africa Men U19s, Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch
Sunday 26 January – 29 January: 1st Youth Test – England Men U19s v South Africa Men U19s, Coetzenburg CC, Stellenbosch
Monday 3 February – 6 February: 2nd Youth Test – England Men U19s v South Africa Men U19s, Western Province CC, Cape Town
