Durham Academy seamer James Minto has been named in the England Under 19s squad for upcoming Youth ODI tri-series against Scotland Men U19s and Ireland Men U19s at Loughborough University.
Minto has been named in a senior England Under 19s squad for the first time having appeared for the Young Lions Invitational XI against Sri Lanka earlier this season.
The 16-year-old made his Durham professional debut against Worcestershire in the Metro Bank One Day Cup picking up two wickets on debut.
He will be captained by Somerset wicketkeeper-batter Thomas Rew who captains England Under 19 for the first time. Rew, 16, will lead an inexperienced Young Lions outfit in which Harry Moore, Sebastian Morgan and Alex Green are the only other capped players.
Richard Halsall will step in as Head Coach in the absence of Mike Yardy, who will be part of the England Men coaching team during the white-ball series against Australia.
Halsall said: “It has been really exciting to see the development of the Under-19s this summer. We’ve seen a host of the squad from the Sri Lanka series go on to play first-team cricket and that gives us an opportunity to expose more young players to international cricket in this series.
“I am really looking forward to taking over the reins as coach from Yards. We know we will need to compete from ball one against Ireland and Scotland and I am looking forward to seeing the squad show off their skills in this series.”
England Men U19s 16-player squad:
Thomas Rew (Somerset – captain), Ralphie Albert (Surrey), Ben Dawkins (Kent), Seth Essenhigh (Worcestershire), Alex Green (Leicestershire), Byron Hatton-Lowe (Nottinghamshire), Joe Heywood (Somerset), Haider Hussain (Lancashire), James Isbell (Middlesex), Ben Mayes (Hampshire), James Minto (Durham), Harry Moore (Derbyshire), Joe Moores (Lancashire), Sebastian Morgan (Middlesex), Samarjeet Singh (Middlesex), Alex Wade (Yorkshire).
England Men U19s Tri-Series schedule:
England U19 v Ireland U19, Haslegrave, Loughborough University – Thursday 12 September (10.30am)
England U19 v Scotland U19, Haslegrave, Loughborough University – Saturday 14 September (10.30am)
England U19 v Ireland U19, Brockington, Loughborough University – Monday 16 September (10.30am)
England U19 v Scotland U19, Brockington, Loughborough University – Wednesday 18 September (10.30am)