ALEX Davies has been named in the England Lions squad for a training camp in Australia in November and December.

The wicketkeeper batsman, who has played Lancashire League cricket for Darwen this summer, is one of three Lancashire players in the 17-man party which will be based first in Brisbane and then in Perth.

Davies has yet to play for the Lions but has enjoyed a stellar county season in which he became the first wicketkeeper in Red Rose history to pass 1,000 runs for the season.

The 23-year-old's county teammates Liam Livingstone and Saqib Mahmood are also in the squad as are Essex trio Dan Lawrence, Jamie Porter and Tom Westley who helped the Eagles to the county championship this term.

Westley is one of three members of the squad who played Test cricket this summer, with Keaton Jennings and Mark Wood also selected.

Ben Duckett completes a quartet of players with Test caps, and the Lancashire all-rounder Livingstone is the fifth member of the squad with senior international experience.

Porter and Lawrence made their debuts for the Lions this summer and Davies is one of four with no Lions experience alongside Dom Bess, Paul Coughlin, and Amar Virdi – although both Bess and Virdi spent time training with the Lions squad in the summer, and Coughlin played in the North-South Series earlier this year.

Chris Silverwood, the head coach of the county champions, will join the Lions for a second consecutive winter, as fast bowling coach - with Adam Hollioake, the former Surrey and England captain, appointed as fielding coach.

National Selector James Whitaker said: “This camp provides an opportunity for emerging young talent and some players with international experience to work hard on their game in Australia, in excellent facilities, under the guidance of Andy Flower and our other lead coaches. The players selected have a range of experience, and we believe they are an exciting group.

“This is a great chance for them to impress, before we select another Lions squad for the games against West Indies A in the second half of the winter.

"We would expect a number of other players to be in contention for that squad – for example Haseeb Hameed was not considered for the Australia camp to avoid him having to rush back from the injury he suffered recently playing for Lancashire.”