Jonathan Trott set for England Lions call-up for South Africa tour

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/27/jonathan-trott-england-lions-call-up-south-africa-tour

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Jonathan Trott is expected to take a significant step closer to a possible England recall on Tuesday when provisional squads for the Lions tour of South Africa are announced.

Trott, whose international career was widely written off after his abrupt departure from last winter’s Ashes tour, made a successful comeback with Warwickshire at the second attempt last summer and, although he lost his England contract in September, he has continued to work closely with the national team’s support staff.

There will be more focus on the Lions than usual this winter, with the senior England team playing only one-day cricket until next spring’s scheduled three-Test series in the West Indies. There are camps before Christmas for the batsmen and spinners in Sri Lanka, and the fast bowlers in South Africa, but it is the New Year tour, with two four-day games against South Africa A followed by five 50-over matches, for which Trott is expected to be included. His 50-over form for Warwickshire as they reached the Royal London final was particularly consistent.

He would join an intriguing number of top-order batsmen, with Sam Robson likely to face a shootout for his position as Alastair Cook’s opening partner on the West Indies tour with the prolific Yorkshire pair Adam Lyth and Alex Lees, and further suggestions that Gary Ballance may be selected, giving him the opportunity to stake a late claim for a place in the World Cup squad.

Separate squads will be named for the four-day and one-day matches and both will be provisional, as they could be affected by the finalising of England’s World Cup squad in December.

There are no guarantees at this stage about the West Indies series going ahead after their recent withdrawal from a tour of India. But the warring parties in Caribbean cricket – the West Indies Cricket Board on one side, the players on the other, and the Players Association led by Wavell Hinds somewhere in between – held talks that were described as “cordial, positive and fruitful” in Jamaica on Monday.

They still have plenty of time to sort things out before their next commitment, a three-Test series in South Africa starting in Pretoria on 17 December, but the board, led by its president, Dave Cameron, is facing the threat of financially ruinous legal action from India for failing to fulfil the tour.