Cricket: Youth given its chance

England's new selectors have made an adventurous choice of players for the England A match against The Rest. Instead of taking the usual route of choosing established players from England's senior squad, the chairman David Graveney, Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting have selected emerging talents from around the country for the curtain-raiser to the season at Edgbaston, starting on 18 April.

The Glamorgan slow left-arm spinner, Dean Cosker, and Alex Tudor, the Surrey seamer, who both enjoyed success on England Under-19's tour to Pakistan during the winter, have been included in the Rest line-up alongside the Worcestershire off-spinner, Vikram Solanki.

TEAMS FOR ENGLAND A V THE REST (Edgbaston, 18-21 April): ENGLAND A: M A Butcher (Surrey), J E R Gallian (Lancashire), M P Vaughan (Yorkshire), A McGrath (Yorkshire), A J Hollioake (Surrey, capt), M A Ealham (Kent), W K Hegg (Lancashire, wkt), A F Giles (Warwickshire), G Chapple (Lancashire), A J Harris (Derbyshire), D W Headley (Kent).

THE REST: J S Laney (Hampshire), D L Maddy (Leicestershire), C J Adams (Derbyshire), M R Ramprakash (Middlesex, capt), C White (Yorkshire), R J Warren (Northants, wkt), V S Solanki (Worcestershire), D A Cosker (Glamorgan), A J Tudor (Surrey), S J E Brown (Durham), C E W Silverwood (Yorkshire).