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England Lions schedule summer tour of Australia

More cricket has been added to the Australian summer, with the England Lions planning a two-match tour in the New Year

Australia's huge 2019-20 home summer has had added a taste of Ashes rivalry with the England Lions to tour down under in the new year.

The Lions – England's equivalent of Australia A – will tour from January to March 2020 and compete in a series of four-day and one-day matches.

The highlight of the tour will be a first-class match against Australia A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 22-25, with a second four-day clash to be staged in Hobart.

Paine takes positives from draw, previews Ashes squad


One of those two first-class games will be a day-night contest, which is set to be the first time many of the Lions squad have played against the pink Kookaburra ball.

Today's announcement comes off the back of Australia A's tour of England, a six-week campaign that featured five one-day matches and two four-day games, culminating in this week's fixture between an Australian XI and England Lions in Canterbury which ended in a hard-fought draw.

Three members of the Lions XI that faced the Australians at the St Lawrence Ground have been selected for England's maiden Test match against Ireland next week at Lord's, while the visitors' side was packed with Ashes aspirants and incumbents, led by Test captain Tim Paine.

Following this year's Ashes, England are set to return to Australia in 2021-22 to compete for the prized little urn, and the Lions squad that will tour next summer will likely feature future stars aiming to win on Australian soil in two years' time.

The 2019-20 summer will see Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand visit to take on Australia's men's side, while England, India and Sri Lanka will face Australia's women's team.

The international summer includes the Women's T20 World Cup in February-March, with the Final to be played at the MCG on International Women's Day on March 8, before the men’s Gillette ODI series sees Australia take on New Zealand in glorious retro uniforms as voted by fans.

England Lions coach and former Ashes winning mentor Andy Flower says he is looking forward to his players getting a feel for the rigours of international cricket.

Image Id: DC7553DC1E714976B578002455C2134D Image Caption: The four-day match between Australia A and the England Lions finished in a draw // Getty

"We’re very grateful to Cricket Australia for hosting us next year; I know their players have benefitted greatly from the recent Australia A tour to the UK and we hope to do the same Down Under," Flower said.

"Lions tours are a great opportunity for learning and development, both for young players at the start of the international pathway and those who are pushing for selection in the senior England squads.

"They’ll learn what is required of them to become an England international, both on and off the field, in the environment of an overseas tour."