LANCASHIRE stars Saqib Mahmood, Richard Gleeson and Keaton Jennings have been called up for England Lions’ tour to Australia in the New Year.

Gleeson will be present for both the one-day and four-day fixtures, with Mahmood and Jennings joining up for the four-day matches that follow the white ball series.

A 16-man squad will play five 50-over matches against Cricket Australia and New South Wales XIs, which will follow Gleeson’s upcoming Big Bash stint with Melbourne Renegades.

Mahmood will travel to Australia following his involvement with England’s ODI squad in South Africa, with Jennings also included for three four-day matches against Australia A, a Cricket Australia XI and a New South Wales XI.

Jennings has been in Mumbai on an ECB spin camp as part of the Lions’ Individualised Programmes, a bespoke programme for a targeted group of players, allowing them to focus on specific areas of improvement, as agreed with their counties and the players themselves.

National Selector Ed Smith said: “We’ve selected two exciting squads for our Lions’ tour of Australia, where the aim is not only to win matches but to prepare players for international cricket.

“With this tour we’ve got England’s short-term needs in mind, with the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka and a busy summer schedule, as well as an opportunity to provide players with relevant experience for future Ashes series.

“Australia is a tough place to tour as an England player at any level, so it will be a great test for all involved.”

ECB Performance Director Mo Bobat added: “In addition to meeting England’s Test needs, one of our goals is to broaden and strengthen our white-ball talent pool in order to deliver sustained success across both formats. We have some exciting young players travelling in the squad this winter who we believe have what it takes to step up in the future. With several young players selected for the England ODI tour of South Africa, the Lions can provide a developmental opportunity to an extended group of players.

“In selecting our squads, we have given careful consideration to players who have been presented with franchise cricket opportunities and, for some, these competitive experiences are exactly what they need at this stage of their development.

“Our selections have been underpinned by progressive discussions with the counties about each player’s best interest and I’d like to thank the counties for their collaborative approach to informing our decision-making.”