England's finest cricketers and those pushing keenly to follow in their footsteps will go head to head at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday 17th February.

England, on their way to Bangladesh for a month-long first-class series, will take on England Lions, who are completing a short tour of the UAE.

The England team will include household names such as Collingwood, Pietersen and Cook for the 20-20 limited-overs match. The Lions team is more of an unknown quantity, though at the helm will be hard-hitting batsman Andrew Gale – recently appointed captain of the Yorkshire county side.

One of the county’s youngest ever skippers, 26-year-old Gale takes over a role which has previously been held by players of the calibre of Michael Vaughan – who also went on to lead the national team.

“England Lions’ tour of the UAE will be a great test of our skills when we play Pakistan A, the UAE and also England,” said Andrew.

“The England game at Abu Dhabi will be an opportunity for some of the Lions players to stake a claim for the forthcoming 20-20 World Cup in the West Indies in May.”
Gale’s continued development at international level is not surprising. He does not just play cricket - he eats, breaths and devours the game.

His passion for the sport will spill over when his business partner and former Yorkshire player Chris Taylor will conduct a number of coaching clinics throughout the UAE from 7th-14th March. The courses will be run by current and former English professional cricketers.

“Pro Coach Cricket Academy has had great success throughout the UK over the last five years and we are delighted to bring our unique and expert cricket coaching to the UAE,” Andrew says.

Anyone interested in the cricket coaching clinics can email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to
www.procricketcoachingacademy.com.

Doug Booth