Jennings, Vince to lead respective sides in North-South series

Jennings, Vince to lead respective sides in North-South series

Keaton Jennings and James Vince will captain in the first North versus South series in the UAE next March. Mark Wood, Steven Finn and Ben Duckett have also been selected as part of the two squads.

The competition has been devised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in order to give county players and those on the fringes of the national side an opportunity to press their claims. The two sides will contest a three match 50 over series.

Four players in each squad had already earned selection through their one-day performances last season as measured by the Professional Cricketers Association's Most Valuable Player rankings but the other places have been decided by Englands selectors.

It is a particularly important opportunity for Finn, Vince, Wood and Duckett, all of whom have played white-ball cricket for England in recent times but who will not be in India in the new year for the one-day series for reasons of form or fitness. It will be their chance to prove they still have plenty to offer.

For all the players selected, the North versus South series is a platform to make an impression, said the National Selector James Whitaker on Saturday (December 17). As Andrew Strauss said when he introduced the series, we see it as an important addition to our selection process in 50-over cricket, ahead of the two major global events we are staging over the next three summers the Champions Trophy next year, and the World Cup in 2019.

With the calibre of the squads we have selected, we are confident there will be an intense and high-quality level of competition that allows us to assess players who are currently just outside the England squad, and their ability to perform at that higher level.

The teams will be led by two members of the senior England coaching staff Paul Farbrace with the South, and Ottis Gibson with the North. They were both involved in the selection process, and the England head coach Trevor Bayliss will be attending the matches with me next March.

There are a number of players selected who will also be on England Lions duty in Sri Lanka early next year. Jennings, Josh Poysden, Joe Clarke and Liam Livingstone will be in the North squad and Tom Alsop, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ben Foakes and Tom Curran will form part of the South squad.

Aside from those on the fringes of the England team, the series offers some good county professionals, who have not been recognised previously, a chance to show their worth. Duckett, Graeme White, Tim Bresnan and Harry Gurney gained selection for the North side via the MVP rankings, with Liam Dawson, Matt Coles and the Somerset pair Lewis Gregory and Tim Groenewald qualifying for the South team.

In addition to those selections, Kents captain Sam Northeast has been chosen for the South team after two fine seasons with the bat and Warwickshires 21-year-old opening batsman Sam Hain, so impressive in helping his side win the one-day competition last season, gets a spot in the North side. Fast bowler Richard Gleeson from Northamptonshire is rewarded for some strong performances in white ball cricket and he will be joined by Lancashires 19-year-old Saqib Mahmood in the North team.

The squads will gather in Dubai ahead of warm-up matches on March 15, with the first two matches of the series at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 17 and 19 before it concludes at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on March 21.

Squads for North versus South series, March 2017

North: K Jennings (Durham, capt), B Duckett (Northamptonshire Steelbacks*), S Hain (Warwickshire), J Clarke (Worcestershire Rapids, wk), L Livingstone (Lancashire Lightning), J Leaning (Yorkshire Vikings), T Bresnan (Yorkshire Vikings*), J Poysden (Warwickshire), G White (Northamptonshire Steelbacks*), M Wood (Durham), S Mahmood (Lancashire Lightning), R Gleeson (Northamptonshire Steelbacks), H Gurney (Notts Outlaws*).

South: J Vince (Hampshire, capt), D Bell-Drummond (Kent Spitfires), T Alsop (Hampshire), D Malan (Middlesex), S Northeast (Kent Spitfires), L Dawson (Hampshire*), B Foakes (Surrey, wk), T Curran (Surrey), L Gregory (Somerset*), T Groenewald (Somerset*), M Coles (Kent Spitfires*), S Finn (Middlesex), M Crane (Hampshire).