Young Shropshire cricket star gets England call for under-19 Test
Shropshire cricket star Jack Home has been included in the England under-19 squad for their opening Test against India.
The 19-year-old Worcestershire ace featured in the recent one-day series between the sides and has retained his spot for the opening encounter of a two-match Test series, which begins at Beckenham on Saturday.
Home, who plays for Shifnal in the Birmingham League, made his first-class debut for the Pears last year and then toured with England U19s in South Africa during the winter.
Warwickshire’s Hamza Shaikh will skipper the side against India, with his Bears team-mate Taz Ali also included in the squad.
Shaikh is returning to the U19s for the first time since skippering the team in last summer’s series against Sri Lanka.
The former Sandwell College student was not part of the squad which toured South Africa during the winter, after being instead selected for the England Lions.
Shaikh, who impressed while playing for the Lions last summer against the senior Sri Lanka and West Indies touring sides, played the first four County Championship matches of the season for Warwickshire.
But he has not featured since early May after scoring just 113 runs across eight innings, with his most recent action coming for the club’s second XI.
Fellow teenager Ali, who has previously played for Smethwick in the Birmingham League, has also found himself pushed down the pecking order after playing in the County Championship over the first month.
Rocky Flintoff and Archie Vaughan, sons of former England captains Andrew and Michael respectively, have also been named in the 15-man group.
