England to give chance to next generation for one-day international against Ireland

By PAUL NEWMAN, CRICKET CORRESPONDENT
Updated: 18:05 EST, 19 August 2011

England will give an opportunity to the first crop of the large number of young players making their mark in the domestic game.

Alastair Cook will take an experimental 13-man squad to Dublin to face Ireland in a one-day international on Thursday as England look at the leading members of the next generation.

James Taylor, who recorded his first County Championship hundred of the season for Leicestershire on Friday, is the most likely to be named and he could be joined by Ben Stokes, Alex Hales, Jonathan Bairstow and Scott Borthwick.

New boy: James Taylor looks set to be named in England's squad to face Ireland

There will also be further opportunities for Chris Woakes, Samit Patel and Jade Dernbach to establish themselves in the ‘new’ England limited-overs side building towards the next World Cup in 2015 under Cook.

England originally planned to take a strong team to Ireland but, after giving team director Andy Flower the trip off, they will tell some of their leading one-day players to take time off too ahead of the limited overs matches against India.

The two extra Twenty20 games against West Indies at The Oval added to England’s schedule for the end of next month were initially earmarked for experimentation.

But Flower, conscious of the lack of Twenty20 internationals, wants to name a strong team and hold a short-form training camp prior to the matches.

Fresh face: Ben Stokes (centre) is another who could be called up

India, meanwhile, have been given additional security for the rest of their tour after being unsettled by the riots while they were in  Birmingham for the  Edgbaston Test.

While never threatening to call off their trip, India were upset enough to hold discussions with the ECB that has led to their security being considerably enhanced.

Now an extra 30 undercover policemen will be on duty at each hotel they stay at and each ground they play on, until their final ODI at Cardiff on September 16. There will also be 12 uniformed officers on duty outside each hotel India use.

The ECB will risk undermining England’s Test series against South Africa next summer by staging one of three planned Tests during the London Olympics.

Resting up: Andy Flower (left) will miss the match against Ireland

The teams face each other at Headingley while all eyes will be on London withthe ECB insisting there is no wriggle room because of the calendar.

They have compounded their problems by agreeing to hold a five-match ODI series against  Australia as well as playing South Africa and West Indies next summer.

Australia began making changes to their own hierarchy in the wake of their Ashes defeat. Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch and selector Greg Chappell both lost their jobs while coach Tim Nielsen was told to reapply for his. He is almost certain to go and may be replaced by former Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss.