The news all Surrey fans were all dreading...

Bad news I'm afraid, Steve Davies has been selected for the England Lions squad. Well its bad news for us, great news for him and just reward for a superb start to the season. This means Davies will be playing in the Lions game from 19th-22nd of May and will therefore be unavailable for selection for the Middlesex game presumably.

Our batting unit has been fragile in the extreme and he's been the only consistent run-scorer, his absence will be keenly felt especially against one of the finest seam attacks in the country (unfortunately Finn has not been selected for the Lions - presumably because he'll play in the first test anyway).

I've been a frequent critic of Gary Wilson and his performance in the game with Bangladesh did nothing to persuade me that he's a worthy deputy. I think even Wilson himself would struggle to make an argument that his performances were of the necessary quality.

The Lions team to face Bangladesh from the 19th is as follows:

Carberry
Cook
Taylor
Gale
Moeen
Davies
Woakes
Harris
Plunkett
Kirby
Panesar

Interesting that Moeen is in, deservedly as he's had a superb start to the season for Worcester, holding their batting together in much the same way as Davies has ours. Also it looks like Woakes will be tried at 7, he's had a good season with bat and ball so far so deserves a go, likewise Harris who has already clocked 30 championship scalps before May is out.

Intriguingly Monty Panesar returns. He has been reliable if not stellar for Sussex so far, but it'll encourage him to know that the selectors haven't forgotten he exists completely. I do like Steve Kirby as well, very good county cricketer who probably deserved a go at the England set up before now.

The batting unit might be one light, though if Woakes steps up that won't be a problem. Cook gets a chance to build on his 70 for Essex this week, Carberry has been in very good form as has Gale for Yorkshire. Taylor hasn't been scoring bucketloads of runs, but I think its fairly well acknowledged that he's a star.

In any case, that side should comfortably beat anything close to the side that drew with Surrey, even allowing for some of their bowlers adapting to the English conditions. A good chance for some youngsters (and some not-so-youngsters!) to boost their chances.