Queen’s Park to host England v Australia in Ashes summer

England’s U19s arrived in Derbyshire today (Wednesday) determined to bounce back from a heavy defeat by Australia in the opening match of the Royal London One-Day International series.
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire Steelbats
Blue skies and a full house at Queens ParkDerbyshire v Northamptonshire Steelbats
Blue skies and a full house at Queens Park
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire Steelbats Blue skies and a full house at Queens Park

The tourists, who are managed by Australia cricket great Greg Chappell and coached by the former England and Worcestershire batsman Graeme Hick, romped to an eight-wicket win at South Northumberland CC in Gosforth on Monday.

But England’s coach Andy Hurry is confident his team can and will improve on a poor opening performance as they aim to emulate their senior equivalents in the ‘Youth Ashes’.

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“I’ve spoken to the squad and told them that was nowhere near a reflection of how they can perform,” said Hurry, a former Royal Marine who spent more than a decade on the coaching staff at Somerset.

“We have to take responsibility for that and make sure we learn the lessons from that. The great thing about this series is it’s five games, and there is an opportunity for us to pick ourselves up and get straight back on the horse at Chesterfield.”

England are captained by Aneurin Donald, a Glamorgan batsman who made his first-team debut last season, and include several other players with senior experience.

Dan Lawrence scored a record-breaking century on his first-class debut for Essex against Surrey at the Kia Oval earlier this season, Ryan Davies wore the wicketkeeping gloves for Kent on several occasions when Sam Billings was playing for the senior England team, and off-spinner Brad Taylor made his debut for Hampshire last summer.

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Australia’s team includes Tom Healy, a wicketkeeper like his father Ian, and is captained by Jake Doran, a highly-rated left-hander from Sydney who played against the senior England team in Alice Springs on the last Ashes tour.

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The match at Queen’s Park will also bring back memories for the family of Matt Renshaw, Australia’s left-handed opener who scored an unbeaten 69 in Monday’s win.

He was born in Middlesbrough but the family moved to South Yorkshire where his father, Ian, played for Sheffield Collegiate – alongside Matt Root, Joe’s dad.

They now live in Brisbane and Matt made his senior debut for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield earlier this year. Entry to both Friday’s match, which starts at 10.30am, and the televised game in Derby is free.