Ben Duckett dropped from England Lions tour to West Indies

The Northamptonshire batsman received a final written warning over his conduct and was fined after pouring a drink over Test star James Anderson in a Perth bar

Wednesday 20 December 2017 09:54 GMT
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Ben Duckett has been omitted from the England Lions squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies
Ben Duckett has been omitted from the England Lions squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies (PA)

Ben Duckett has been omitted from the England Lions squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies because of his behaviour in Australia.

The Northamptonshire batsman received a final written warning over his conduct and was fined after pouring a drink over Test star James Anderson in a Perth bar while England's senior and Lions players socialised together earlier this month.

The 23-year-old will now miss the four-day and limited-overs series against West Indies A in February and March, with another of England's recently discarded openers, Keaton Jennings, captaining the squad.

An ECB spokesman said: "Ben Duckett has not been selected as a result of the off-field incident which led to his suspension and fine in Australia."

Meanwhile, the tour gives a chance for Lancashire opener Haseeb Hameed and Middlesex seamer Toby Roland-Jones to make their return from injury.

Hameed's hopes of returning to the top of England's order for the current Ashes tour were ended by a hand injury, while Roland-Jones was unable to travel to Australia after suffering a stress fracture to his back.

As-yet unused members of the Ashes party Mason Crane and Ben Foakes are included for the four-day series, alongside the leading wicket-taker in last season's Specsavers County Championship, Jamie Porter, who pulled out of the Lions' trip to Australia with a back problem.

National selector James Whitaker said: "We have selected a total of 22 players for these two series in the West Indies, to ensure we gain the most value in terms of assessing players in both first-class and one-day cricket.

"Haseeb Hameed, Jamie Porter and Toby Roland-Jones are all available again after injuries - Jamie and Toby after working exceptionally hard on the ECB's Pace Programme over the last couple of months.


 Duckett was handed a final warning by the ECB after an incident in a Perth bar 
 (Getty)

"Sam Curran missed out on the Lions training camp in Australia but he has also been training hard, under the supervision of Surrey's strength and conditioning coaches, before going out to play T20 cricket in New Zealand.

"We have included two members of the Ashes tour squad, Ben Foakes and Mason Crane, for the four-day matches, with the possibility of either or both of them leaving the Lions tour early if they are selected in the England squad for the two Tests in New Zealand in March and April."

Lions squads:

Both squads: Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Jamie Porter (Essex), Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Nick Gubbins (Middlesex), Alex Davies (Lancashire).

Four-day squad: Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Josh Tongue (Worcestershire).

One-day squad: Sam Northeast (Kent), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Dominic Bess (Somerset), Tom Helm (Middlesex), George Garton (Sussex), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire).

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