SL President’s XI 93 For 2 Trail england lions 413 for 8 December (Lees 103, Haynes 64*, Bohannon 58, Abel 57, Smith 50) by 320 runs
Lees, who made his Caribbean debut in March last year, played all seven of England’s Tests in a remarkable summer under the new leadership of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, but was dropped for the recent tour of Pakistan after scoring 327 runs at 25.15. given. Two fifties.
His exclusion from the ECB’s list of centrally contracted players was another indication that he had slipped down the pecking order in Pakistan as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were preferred, but his performance against Sri Lanka’s President’s XI There was clear evidence that the new mindset of the Test team was firmly ingrained in his psyche.
He hit 12 fours and two sixes in his knock of 103, the second fastest century in England Lions history, behind new national selector Luke Wright – who reached the mark in 91 balls in New Zealand in 2009.
“I think I’ve enjoyed being in that environment, especially playing in a successful side in the summer,” he said. “It was fantastic. I think my reflection on playing those games, I played quite competently but just lacked that big score which is obviously the difference. As a top-order batsman, you’re in the middle —are averaging in the mid-twenties to mid-forties. For summer, in short, that’s what your test summer is built around.”
Nevertheless, Lees’ influence was lifted from the Lions’ batting card with a very “buzzball” look, as England declared at 413 for 8 after 67 overs, a performance that was better than a run ball, And it consisted of four more halves. Centuries followed for Tom Abel (57), Josh Bohannon (58), Jack Haynes (64 not out) and Jamie Smith, whose 35 balls at No.8 was the fastest by an England player at Lions level.
Haseeb Hameed was another man heading into 2022 at the top of the Test batting order, his most recent appearance coming in the Ashes in Sydney in January, but he fared less well in his first outing as Lions captain. He was dismissed on his very first ball of the match, caught by Kavindu Pathiratne in the very first over of the match.
In reply, with spinners Liam Patterson-White and Jack Carson both taking wickets, the President’s XI were 93 for 2 in 19.5 overs.
The Lions are fielding all 16 of their players in this match in Colombo, which is not being classified as first-class. The President’s XI used ten bowlers during the England innings.
