Teenager Thomas Rew has been named England Lions captain in the same week he earned his first senior call-up and central contract. The 18-year-old is thought to be set to become the youngest captain in Lions history when he leads the side in three T20s against West Indies A in St Kitts and Nevis in November. Rew will skipper a squad that includes his older brother, James.
Earlier this week, Thomas was given an England developmental deal and named in a full squad for the first time for the T20 series in Australia. Thomas, Hampshire seamer Eddie Jack and Sussex all-rounder James Coles are the three players who will be involved on the Lions tour and then travel to Australia. The Lions' T20s in the Caribbean are followed by five one-day matches, with that squad captained by Test batter Dan Lawrence. Lawrence is joined by seamer Sam Cook, as both men use the tour as preparation for the senior team's three Tests in South Africa in December.
The elevation is a further sign of the high regard in which the England hierarchy holds Rew. The wicketkeeper-batter captained England Under-19s to the World Cup final earlier this year, then made his first two first-class hundreds for Somerset during the summer. Rew does not turn 19 until 29 November. If he plays on the senior tour of Australia, he would become the third-youngest man to make his England debut in any format, after Rehan Ahmed and Brian Close, and the youngest to play for England against Australia.
Hampshire seamer Scott Currie is also part of the T20 squad. Born in Poole, Currie played three one-day internationals for Scotland in 2014, and his brother Brad has 39 caps for the Scots. Scott was called into England's squad for a T20 series in Ireland last year but did not play, and he was subsequently barred from reverting to Scotland for this year's T20 World Cup because he was named as an England substitute fielder in Dublin. Former England batter Jonathan Trott is taking charge of the Lions' winter tours following the departure of head coach Andrew Flintoff.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing