Haseeb will become next teen rookie for England
HASEEB Hameed will become the first teenager selected for England in 19 years today when he is named in the Test squad to tour Bangladesh.
The Lancashire opener, left, will take his place in a 17-man party and the 19-year-old looks certain to become the first teenager to play Test cricket for England since Ben Hollioake in 1997 when the series starts in Chittagong next month.
England will name an expanded squad to provide cover for captain Alastair Cook, who could miss the opening match of the series as he is on standby to return home for the birth of his second child.
That is likely to see one of Middlesex’s Nick Gubbins, Durham’s Keaton Jennings or Northants’ Ben Duckett included in the Test squad and raises the prospect of England fielding two debutant openers for the first Test, which starts on October 20.
Alex Hales, who opened with Cook in the final Test of the summer against Pakistan at The Oval, has opted out of the tour over security fears and is unlikely to win back his place when the squad for the five--
Test series against India in November and December is named later this month.
Hameed’s selection is rich reward for his fine form in the County Championship, where he has hit four hundreds and seven half-centuries in his first season in Division One.
Speaking last month, England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted he had no fears about pitching Hameed into Test action at such a young age, saying: “If he’s good enough, he’s old enough. No, I wouldn’t have any problem (picking him).
England are unlikely to come up with any huge surprises in the rest of their party for the Bangladesh Test series, with Liam Dawson expected to see off competition from Surrey’s Gareth Batty and Somerset’s Jack Leach to be named as a third spinner alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.
Zafar Ansari, Batty’s Surrey team-mate, could still be included, though, as he offers cover for both spin bowling and batting.
Duckett is certain to be included in a 15-man one-day squad for the three matches against Bangladesh that start in Dhaka on October 7.
Jos Buttler will captain England in those ODIs that start the tour after Eoin Morgan also decided against travelling to Bangladesh on safety grounds.
That decision means the plan to rest Moeen Ali, Joe Root and Ben Stokes for the Bangladesh ODIs is now likely to be shelved.