Sam Cook added to England Lions squad for Australia tour

The Essex seamer's omission from the original list came as a surprise after a fine season across all formats: he picked up 58 wickets in the County Championship at 14.43 apiece

Essex seamer Sam Cook has been added to the England Lions squad for the upcoming tour of Australia.

His omission from the original list came as a surprise after a fine season across all formats. He picked up 58 wickets in the County Championship at 14.43 apiece, while adding 20 in the T20 Blast despite not making it out of the group stage.

That form was rewarded with a wildcard selection at Trent Rockets. While not possessing the express pace of Brydon Carse and Saqib Mahmood, both of whom will be colleagues in the Lions squad, Cook has been widely praised over the course of the summer for having added a yard of pace to his game.

When England Lions last toured Australia in the winter ahead of the pandemic, Cook was a late addition to the squad as cover; he was already in Melbourne playing club cricket for Prahan.

Ahead of the 2021 season, he told The Cricketer: “From a personal point of view, I had a brief chat with Ed Smith (selector at the time) in Australia.

“It was actually quite refreshing to hear it from himself, saying that he wanted us to be outstanding in two or three areas – whether that’s pace, accuracy or skill. To hear it from the direct point of view for me gave me a big boost.”

He will join the touring party when they depart on November 4.

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