Durham Academy prospect Josh Coughlin has been called up for England Under-19 duty for the upcoming four-day matches against Sri Lanka.
Pace bowler Coughlin has been named as part of a 14-man squad for two fixures against the touring side alongside a two-day warm up vs the Unicorns.
It completes an excellent few weeks for the Sunderland-born bowler, who made his First-Class debut against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at the end of June and was captained by elder brother Paul.
And he follows in the footsteps of many Durham players before him, most recently Jack Burnham and Adam Hickey, who both appeared for the side during the last 12 months.
“We always work closely with counties to decide what is best for the development of each player, and it has been pleasing to see that 14 players who represented England Under-19s over the last 12 months have played first-team cricket this season,” said David Graveney OBE, the Chairman of Selectors of the England Development Programme.
“We took that into account in selecting this squad, and that has led to opportunities for a number of other players.”
The Unicorns friendly commences on July 21 before the first match against Sri Lanka commences on July 26 at Fenner’s, the University Cricket Ground in Cambridge.
Northampton plays host to the second four-day fixture between 3-6 August.
Four-day matches squad: Max Holden (Middlesex, captain), Josh Dell, Zen Malik, Josh Tongue, Ben Twohig, Ollie Westbury (all Worcestershire), George Hankins (Gloucestershire), George Bartlett (Somerset), Ollie Pope (wk), Amar Verdi (both Surrey), George Panayi (Warwickshire), Aaron Beard (Essex), Ed Barnes (Yorkshire), Josh Coughlin (Durham).