Edwards to lead Australia A in Lions tour match

Blues allrounder Jack Edwards has been named captain in what will also be his Australia A debut for a four-day clash against England Lions later this month.

The national selection panel today announced a bowler-heavy 12-man squad to take on the Lions, including another couple of allrounders in ODI reps Aaron Hardie and Will Sutherland. 

Australia A: Jack Edwards (NSW) (c), Xavier Bartlett (Qld), Brendan Doggett (SA), Jordan Buckingham (SA), Jayden Goodwin (WA), Aaron Hardie (WA), Fergus O'Neill (Vic), Kurtis Patterson (NSW), Josh Philippe (NSW), Corey Rocchiccioli (WA), Will Sutherland (Vic), Tim Ward (Tas)

The match is scheduled for January 30-February 2 at Cricket Central, home base for Cricket NSW in Sydney's west.

"Following two Australia A fixtures against India A earlier this season which had short-term relevance to the Border Gavaskar Trophy, this match is a valuable opportunity to expose exciting young talent against quality international opposition with a longer lens," said national selector Tony Dodemaide.

"We expect a highly competitive contest against a Lions team who will be keen to stake their individual claims for selection in next summer’s Ashes tour of Australia."

The majority of the Australia A pace-bowling options for the match (as well as WA off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli) lined up in the series against India A prior to the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy showdown, though that group has been bolstered by the presence of Australia ODI rep Xavier Bartlett, as well as allrounders Hardie and Sutherland.

Edwards is averaging 35 with the bat in this Shield campaign but it has been the towering allrounder's work with the ball (20 wickets at 21.60) that has really turned heads.

The 24-year-old's NSW teammate Kurtis Patterson is also a notable inclusion. Since being dropped from the Shield side last summer, 31-year-old Patterson has been in strong touch in 2024-25, passing fifty in five out of six trips to the middle and scoring 527 runs at 105.40.

The left-hander played two Tests against Sri Lanka six years ago, scoring a century, and has turned out 17 times for Australia A over the years, though his most recent appearance – in which he top scored with 94 not out – came in February 2020.

With 101 first-class matches to his name, Patterson is comfortably the most experienced batter in the group, with perennial Australia A top-order options Cameron Bancroft, Matthew Renshaw and Marcus Harris all missing selection.

Instead, it seems Tasmania opener Tim Ward will likely be partnered at the top of the order by either Patterson, WA youngster Jayden Goodwin, or even Blues wicketkeeper-batter Josh Phillipe.

The Lions meanwhile are coached by England legend Andrew Flintoff, whose 16-year-old son Rocky is part of the squad.

England Lions squad: Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Pat Brown, James Coles, Sam Cook, Alex Davies, Rocky Flintoff, Tom Lawes, Freddie McCann, Ben McKinney, James Rew, Hamza Shaikh, Mitch Stanley, Josh Tongue, John Turner.

Likely with an eye to next summer, the tourists also have Ashes paceman Josh Tongue, fellow quick Sam Cook, and 21-year-old leg-spinner Shoaib Bashir - who has already played 15 Tests - as part of their group.

Live scores for the match will be available on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live app.