The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced a 15-man England Under 19 squad for this winter's tour of Australia. The team will play three four-day Test Matches and five One-Day Internationals against their Australian counterparts, who earlier this year won the ICC Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand.

Bilal Shafayat will captain the youthful squad, which will feature eight 17-year old players when they depart on 31 December. Six of the players come from Yorkshire, including the youngest member of the squad, leg-spinner Mark Lawson, who has been a regular attendee of the ECB Wrist Spin development programme, led by Terry Jenner, and the first player from the scheme to represent England Under 19.

Paul Farbrace coaches the squad in the absence of Tim Boon, who will be on England senior One-Day team duty in Australia.

Paul Farbrace said, "It is a very young side. We have four Under 19s and 11 Under 18s, so the majority of the players will be available to play against South Africa next summer and also in the next ICC Under 19 World Cup in January-February 2004. Seven players have played First Class Cricket, so we will have valuable experience in the team too.

"It is a great opportunity for the Under 19s to be playing a series in Australia while the senior team is competing for the Ashes. Added incentive for them is the fact that three of our Under 19 players from this summer - Kyle Hogg, Gordon Muchall and Graham Wagg - have been selected in the National Academy squad so the current Under 19 players can see a clear pathway forward for their burgeoning careers."

England Under 19 squad

Ravinda Bopara                Essex
Tim Bresnan                   Yorkshire
Dan Broadbent                 Yorkshire
Simon Cusden                  Kent
Neil Edwards                  Somerset
Andrew Gale                   Yorkshire
Andrew Hodd (wk)              Sussex
Mark Lawson                   Yorkshire
Samit Patel                   Nottinghamshire
James Pearson                 Gloucestershire
Liam Plunkett                 Durham
Bilal Shafayat (capt)         Nottinghamshire
David Stiff                   Yorkshire
Nick Thornicroft              Yorkshire
Luke Wright                   Leicestershire

Paul Farbrace                 Coach
Graham Saville                Manager
Kirk Russell                  Physiotherapist

England Under 19, Australia tour itinerary

December 2002
Tuesday 31                    Squad departs England 

January 2003
Thursday 2                    Arrival in Adelaide, 
Saturday 4                    One-Day Match (tbc), Adelaide
Sunday 5                      One-Day Match (tbc), Adelaide
Monday 6 - Wednesday 8        South Australian XI, Adelaide
Sunday 12 - Wednesday 15      1st Test Match v Australia U19, Adelaide
Friday 17                     ECB National Academy 
Saturday 18                   1st ODI v Australia U19, Adelaide
Tuesday 21 - Thursday 23      Victoria Institute of Sport, Melbourne
Sunday 26                     2nd ODI v Australia U19, Melbourne
Tuesday 28 - Friday 31        2nd Test Match v Australia U19, Melbourne

February 2003
Monday 3 - Thursday 6         3rd Test Match v Australia U19, Sydney
Saturday 8                    3rd ODI v Australia U19, Sydney
Sunday 9                      4th ODI v Australia U19, Sydney
Tuesday 11                    5th ODI v Australia U19, Sydney
Thursday 13                   Depart Australia 
Friday 14                     Arrive London

© ECB 2002