, England's selectors also put Joe Root in charge of the England Lions one-day tour of Australia in February, barely a week after his mentor, the former England captain Michael Vaughan, had identified him as a future England captain.

Root, who made his England Test debut earlier this month against India, will captain a Lions side in five one-day matches against Australia A which includes 12 members of the 2012 England Performance who have recently returned from India.

Lions squad: Joe Root, Gary Balance, Scott Borthwick, Danny Briggs, Varun Chopra, Matthew Coles, Ben Foakes, Alex Hales, James Harris, Simon Kerrigan, Toby Roland-Jones, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Reece Topley, James Vince,

Following the selection of the squad in the New Year, the England Lions will fly to Australia in early February before playing Victoria in three one-day warm up games at the Junction Oval and the MCG in Melbourne.

The Lions will then play a five-game one-day series against the Australia A squad with games being played at the Blundstone Arena, Hobart, and the SCG, Sydney.

England Lions schedule for Australia tour 2013
February 7: Victoria 2nd XI, Junction Oval, 11am
February 11: Victoria, Junction Oval, 11am
February 13: Victoria, MCG, 11am
February 16: Australia A, Blundstone Arena, 2pm
February 18: Australia A, Blundstone Arena, 11am
February 22: Australia A, Blundstone Arena, 11am
February 25: Australia A, SCG, 11am
March 1: Australia A, SCG, 2pm