Mark Alleyne will captain the side Photo © CricInfo

The England and Wales Cricket Board today announced its squad for the England 'A' Tour to the West Indies. The team, captained by Gloucestershire's Mark Alleyne, will take part as one of eight teams in the West Indies four-day domestic First Class competition, the Busta Cup, in January and February 2001.

The squad of 16 players represents a blend of youth and experience. It contains eight players aged 22 or under (Foster, Franks, Harmison, Read, Sales, Schofield, Sidebottom and Tudor), six players with full Test caps (Crawley, Habib, Read, Schofield, Silverwood, Tudor), plus another three players with One-Day International experience (Alleyne, Franks and Solanki).

Eight of the 16 players took part in the successful A Tour last winter to Bangladesh and New Zealand. A ninth, Harmison, was selected but withdrew through injury. Fourteen players have also represented England at Under 19 level.

Jamie Foster, the reserve wicket-keeper, is the youngest member of the squad at 20 years of age. He played for the England Under 19 team against Australia last summer and, as a former student at Forest School and Durham University, has followed in the educational footsteps of Nasser Hussain.

David Graveney, Chairman of Selectors, said, "All these players have very real chances of playing for England at Test Match level. The squad combines both youth and experience with Alleyne and Crawley both having West Indian touring experience.

"It will be a good challenge to play in the Busta Cup, as greater edge will be given to the matches. 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. One of the advantages of picking our full Test Match and One-Day squads early was that we could give due time and consideration to the A Tour selection."

The tour's full itinerary will be confirmed as soon as possible.

England 'A' Tour Party to West Indies

Name                    Date of birth       County
----                    -------------       ------
Mark Alleyne (capt)      23.10.68           Gloucestershire
Usman Afzaal             09.06.77           Nottinghamshire
Jason Brown              10.10.74           Northamptonshire
John Crawley (v.capt)    21.09.71           Lancashire
James Foster (w/k)       15.04.80           Essex
Paul Franks              03.02.79           Nottinghamshire
Aftab Habib              07.02.72           Leicestershire
Stephen Harmison         23.10.78           Durham
Chris Read (w/k)         10.08.78           Nottinghamshire
David Sales              03.12.77           Northamptonshire
Chris Schofield          06.10.77           Lancashire
Ryan Sidebottom          15.01.78           Yorkshire
Chris Silverwood         05.03.75           Yorkshire
Vikram Solanki           01.04.76           Worcestershire
Alex Tudor               23.10.77           Surrey
Ian Ward                 30.09.73           Surrey

Tour Manager:            James Whitaker
Coach:                   Peter Moores
Physiotherapist:         Ann Brentnall
Fitness Consultant:      Richard Smith

Jonathan Lewis, of Gloucestershire CCC, is being put on standby due to injury worries to Sidebottom (groin), Harmison (shin splints) and Silverwood (groin).

For further information, contact Mark Hodgson, ECB Corporate Affairs on 020 7432 1251

© ECB