England have named James Taylor as the captain of a 16-man Lions squad to tour Bangladesh next month, with Essex seamer Tymal Mills a surprise inclusion after just four first-class games.
Taylor is one of six players with full England caps in the party, joining Alex Hales, Jos Buttler, Stuart Meaker, Scott Borthwick and Jonny Bairstow.
However, it is the selection of left-arm seamer Mills that will attract much of the interest. The 19-year-old has only played six times in all formats for Essex but has done enough to earn a closer look by the selectors.
"We have selected a young squad for this tour, which is in line with our strategy of looking ahead to the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup and identifying and working with players who may be able to go on and play a role for England in the future," said ECB performance director David Parsons.
"This tour presents a good opportunity for these players to continue to develop their skills in subcontinent conditions on what will no doubt be a challenging tour of Bangladesh as well as push for selection for future England squads."
England Lions squad: J Taylor (Nottinghamshire, captain), J Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), S Borthwick (Durham), D Briggs (Hampshire), J Brooks (Northamptonshire), N Buck (Leicestershire), J Buttler (Somerset), A Hales (Nottinghamshire), S Kerrigan (Lancashire), T Maynard (Surrey), S Meaker (Surrey), T Mills (Essex), B Rankin (Warwickshire), J Root (Yorkshire), J Roy (Surrey), J Vince (Hampshire)
