Milner to captain England in Wales series

LITTLEHAMPTON Cricket Club’s Hugh Milner will captain the England 70-plus seniors team in a Test series against the Wales 65-plus team next month.
Hugh MilnerHugh Milner
Hugh Milner

England, having beaten Australia last year in the first official Ashes series, were expecting to travel down under to defend the Seevent 70-plus Ashes in November.

However, Australia were unable to agree an itenary, with a number of states vying to host the Test matches. As an alternative, England will travel to Wales for a three-match series.

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Following his success as captain and manager of the England team against Australia, Milner has been appointed captain and will run the team in Wales.

He said: “It was a fantastic experience being the captain of a winning side against the ‘old enemy’ and I was very pleased that the Sussex contingent performed excellently.

“It is a great honour to play seniors’ county cricket but to represent your country as captain is beyond dreams.

“We have a great all-round squad for the series in Wales and have drawn from players who are still playing over-60s cricket for counties where the 70-plus game has yet to be established.”

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Apart from Milner, Sussex will be be represented in the 14-man squad by Barry Peay, of Horsham, and Udho Maharaj, who plays for St Francis Hospital.

Each of the three matches will be 45 overs per side and all players will be aged 70 or over. Each player will be given Test shirts and caps and there will be a series trophy and man-of-the-match awards for each match and for both teams.

The squad has been drawn from the Seevent Championship counties of Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Shrop-shire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex.

The games take place on September 7, 9 and 11.