Rehan Ahmed headlines England Lions squad for South Africa matches

England's U-19 star spinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed has been picked in the England Lions squad, who will take on South Africa for the two upcoming 50-over games.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced an exciting 13-player strong Lions squad for two 50-over matches against South Africa later this month. Somerset's captain Tom Abell will lead the side.

Rehan is a product of the Leicestershire academy, made his first appearances for the senior team as a 16-year-old in last summer's Royal London Cup, when he made his debut against Yorkshire, and went on to average 44.50 with the bat and take five wickets in a seven-game stint with the club. 

He then played an integral role in England's run to the final of this year's U-19 World Cup, taking 12 wickets in four games. His first real impression came in 2016, when he was 11 years old and was invited to bowl in the nets at Lord's as part of England's preparations for the Test series against Pakistan, and ended up picking the wicket of current Test captain Ben Stokes in the nets.

While representing Leicestershire in the T20 Blast 2022, Rehan claimed 19 wickets in the group stages which was the most by any right-arm leg spinner in the competition.

Alongside Ahmed Warwickshire's left-arm wrist spinner Jake Lintott also makes his way into the team. He was the leading spinner in the T20 Blast group stage, taking 22 wickets at an impressive average of 19.45 for Birmingham Bears.

Few capped England stars like Tom Banton, and David Payne will be seen in action against South Africa.

Will Smeed, Tom Banton, and Stephen Eskinazi will be considered for the openers' role. Sam Hain, who has the best List A average (59.78) is likely to be slotted at the number three position.

Essex pacer Sam Cook returns to the Lions side having travelled with the squad to Australia last year. Gloucestershire all-rounder Benny Howell is a welcome addition to the squad.

England Men's team's assistant coach Paul Collingwood will be the man in charge of the England Lions for the two 50-over fixtures.

ECB's performance director Mo Bobat is thankful to all the counties for the collaborative approach in building a strong England Lions squad for the two List A games.

"It's always great when we can bring some of our best and highest potential players together, particularly to take on senior international opposition. The two games provide an excellent opportunity to continue to grow our depth and assess players' readiness for England," said ECB's performance director Mo Bobat.

England Lions Squad: Tom Abell (Captain), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton (Wicket keeper), Sam Cook, Ben Duckett, Stephen Eskinazi, Sam Hain, Adam Hose, Benny Howell, Jake Lintott, David Payne, George Scrimshaw, Will Smeed