By Andy Wilson
England Lions departed for South Africa with New Year resolution for a tour which promises to test all facets of their game.
The team flew out of Heathrow on New Year’s Day, and will play two four-day matches against South Africa A as well as five one-day matches later in the trip.
“It will all happen quite quickly once we’re there,” said Mark Robinson, the Sussex coach who will take charge of the squad as they aim to build on the work done in Performance Programme camps before Christmas.
“We’ve got a couple of prep days before one three-day warm-up game, and then we’re into the games against South Africa A in Paarl and Bloemfontein. So we’re going to have to hit the ground running, that’s one of the first challenges to the group.
“We’ll have to acclimatise, and get ourselves mentally ready to come across the sort of opposition you expect in South Africa, tough mentally and strong physically. But we think we’ve got an exciting squad and we feel we can do well.”
Robinson has spoken with the players about three broad goals for the trip, adding: “First of all, as professional sportsmen we want to win.
“But England Lions is about more than that. There’s also the short-term priority of identifying the next players in line if Pete Moores needs them for the senior team.
“Then there’s the longer-term question of developing future England players.
“We’ve got a group of players at differing stages of their careers, which means we’re hopefully in a good position in all those areas.”