It’s turning out to be an unforgettable week for 18-year-old Cumbrian cricketer Stanley McAlindon.
After recording career best figures in the Royal London One Day Cup for Durham against Leicestershire on Tuesday, he has been chosen for England Under-19’s.
England lost the First Test against Sri Lanka earlier this week and the Second Test starts on Sunday at Derby.
The former Carlisle pace bowler scored his maiden half century in a Dearham rearguard revival and then took four wickets which almost snatched an unlikely victory for his county.
Although McAlindon has played in the Bunbury Festival with some of the country’s leading Under-15’s at the time, this will be his first England call-up.
After his maiden half century McAlindon, who had started his career with the Great Corby club before joining Carlisle, said: “The experience for me in this competition has been brilliant.
“It’s so good to be playing against top class players. It’s been a special day for me and I feel as though I’ve learned so much.”
It will be another special day on Sunday when he makes his international debut against Sri Lanka who won the first Test yesterday by three wickets in a high-scoring game.
ECB’s Elite Performance Pathway Coach, Richard Dawson, said: “We were really looking forward to this series and seeing how a wide range of the best young men’s players in this country adapt to the challenge and opportunity of international age-group cricket.
“Already this season it’s been encouraging to see a number of the guys from our World Cup squad earning regular selection for their counties and making some significant contributions.
“The key for us when selecting a squad is working out with the counties what’s best for each individual player, and for the first Test match – in a number of cases – we agreed that it was best for them to continue playing domestic cricket.
“That removes some experience from our squad, but it also increases the challenge and opportunity for the guys who have been selected.”
The selectors will name a squad for the second LV= Insurance Test ahead of that match, which begins on 28 August at the Incora County Ground in Derby, before naming a squad for the three-match Royal London U19s Series.
