Two Kent players have been selected for England Lions’ tour of Sri Lanka.

Fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist, 22, has earned a Lions call-up after being Kent’s young player-of-the-year and bowler-of-the-year in 2022.

He is named as part of the 16-player Test squad for the tour which will begin with a three-day warm-up match in Colombo on January 25 before two four-day Tests against Sri Lanka A in Galle.

Kent wicketkeeper Jordan Cox, meanwhile, a fellow 22-year-old, is in the 16-player One-Day International squad.

He is part of the side due to play three games against Sri Lanka A in Colombo, with the opening match scheduled for February 15, having earned his first full senior international England call-up in September.

Margate-born Cox was named in the 19-strong squad for their seven-match T20 tour of Pakistan but didn’t feature.

Another wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson, who has left The Spitfire Ground for Durham ahead of the start of this summer, is also in the Test squad.

England Cricket performance director Mo Bobat said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to expose players to the challenges of playing A-team cricket in the sub-continent, which will be fantastic for their development.

"The series also provides us with the chance to observe the players ahead of this year’s World Cup, as well as next winter’s Test series in India.

“The squads have been selected with careful consideration of each player’s individual programmes.

“We’ve worked closely with the counties to understand the players’ best interests as we map their development opportunities. In some cases, that includes enabling players to play in domestic franchise cricket.

“The ODI squad takes into account the strength in depth that we have across a number of key roles in our England men’s white-ball teams and many of the players will join us directly from cricket they’ve been playing elsewhere in Australia, South Africa or the UAE.

“After a hugely exciting and successful first half of the winter for our Test and Twenty20 teams, I’m sure the Lions players will be suitably motivated to make the most of this opportunity.”

Overall, 28 players have been selected, with Tom Abell, Sam Cook, Matt Fisher and Tom Hartley in both squads.

The ECB is set to confirm the head coach and the captains for each squad before the series, while selection is subject to attainment of England Lions minimum fitness standards.

Gilchrist was born in, Harare, Zimbabwe and then grew up in South Africa before 2016 saw him move to England.