Test batsman Eoin Morgan will captain England’s second-string Lions against Australia in a two-day tour match at Northampton starting on Friday, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced Monday.
Northamptonshire were originally due to play Australia at Wantage Road, but their qualification for English county cricket’s Twenty20 finals day means the Lions now fulfil the fixture, which will serve as Australia’s warm-up match for the fifth and final Ashes Test at London’s Oval starting on August 21.
Morgan, who played the last of his 16 England Tests in February, is one of several players in the Lions team who’ve previously represented England at senior level across all formats including Somerset wicketkeeper/batsman Jos Buttler and Yorkshire paceman Liam Plunkett.