SOMERSET spin twins Jack Leach and Dom Bess have both been included in the England Lions squad for the tour of West Indies in the New Year.
Leach has been selected for red ball matches only, with Bess in the white ball only squad.
Both have just returned from the Lions tour of Australia, where Leach took four wickets for the senior side in a tour match against a Cricket Australia XI and Bess impressed in a pair of T20 matches for the Lions against Perth Scorchers.
Bess' selection as part of the white ball only squad may raise eyebrows given he has played the vast majority of his cricket for Somerset in the Championship - he has not yet played a List A match for his county and has featured in just a single T20.
The off-spinner will have his sights set on changing that in the coming season, however, and the Caribbean tour will provide ideal preparation for both himself and Leach before they return to Taunton.
England Lions squad
For whole tour
Keaton Jennings (Lancashire, capt)
Joe Clarke (Worcestershire)
Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Jamie Porter (Essex)
Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)
Nick Gubbins (Middlesex)
Aaron Davies (Lancashire, wicket-keeper)
Red-ball only:
Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire)
Dan Lawrence (Essex)
Ben Foakes (Surrey, wicket-keeper)
Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex)
Jack Leach (Somerset)
Mason Crane (Hampshire)
Josh Tongue (Worcestershire)
White-ball only:
Sam Northeast (Kent)
Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
Dominic Bess (Somerset)
Tom Helm (Middlesex)
George Garton (Sussex)
Matt Parkinson (Lancashire)
Schedule
5-7 February - Tour Match, Sabina Park, Jamaica
11-14 February – West Indies A v England, Trelawny Multiplex, Jamaica
18-21 February – West Indies A v England, Sabina Park, Jamaica
26 February - 1 March – West Indies A v England, Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua
4 March - Tour Match, Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua
6 March – West Indies A v England, Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
9 March - West Indies A v England, Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
11 March - West Indies A v England, Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
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