PRIDE OF THE LIONS Ollie and his team-mates rewarded for England A heroics as massive squad named for the summer ...but it’s all over for Plunkett

ENGLAND have called on 14 uncapped players to cover all the bases in a huge 55-man group for this summer. Players such as Ollie Robinson, Sam Hain, Henry Brookes and Dan Lawrence will take part in individual training sessions at first at their nearest available venue, before moving into small group training as Government restrictions allow. With the West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland set to arrive in the UK, the enlarged squad allows enough flexibility to stage warm-ups and play both red and white-ball fixtures at the same time if need be. There is no room for World Cup winning bowler Liam

ENGLAND TRAINING GROUP

Plunkett (below), drawing a line under his international career, while Essex’s Jamie Porter has gone from an England Test squad to the wilderness despite winning a second county championship in three years last summer.

And Alex Hales, dropped from the World Cup squad last year when news broke of two failed drugs tests, is nowhere to be seen.

Unsurprisingly, the England Lions squad victorious against Australia A Down

Under in February feature heavily, with

Sussex fast bowler Robinson ready to take the next step up.

“It’s great to be named among the group and eventually to be able to work with guys who have been at that high level for longer,” said Robinson. “I can learn a lot from that.

“Watching Jimmy Anderson at a training camp in South Africa over the winter, here’s a guy who has been at the top for how long and he still works harder than anyone.

“No matter how long you’ve played, your work is never done and you’re never the finished article.

“Getting into this training group lets people like me know we may be a bit closer than we thought.”

Robinson took seven wickets in the Melbourne win, showing a liking for Australian conditions that began with a spell in Sydney grade cricket.

Since then he has been a revelation for Sussex, taking 137 championship wickets in the past two summers.

“It’s been frustrating since I got back from Australia,” he added. “I was raring to go into the English summer ready to show I could do it again for Sussex and push my name further forward.

“I worked hard all winter with that Kookaburra ball. Hopefully when they pick a squad for the next Ashes, my name is still in a good place.”