The England Lions side has received a massive boost for their upcoming winter trip to South Africa as the former pacer bowler of the Proteas, Dale Steyn, has signed a short-term deal to work on the most promising fast bowlers of the Three Lions next month as the ESPNcricinfo has revealed in a recent report.
Dale Steyn will be part of the coaching staff of the former all-rounder of the England team, Andrew Flintoff, along with the former international Neil McKenzie. The ECB has already announced a 19-man training squad at the start of the month, with the tour due to start from November 20 to December 14.
It will largely consist of a training camp on these fast and furious bouncy tracks but will conclude with a four-day match against the South Arica A side in Western Province. The team is packed with ten seamers, including the two international pacers, Pat Brown and Josh Hull.
Dillon Pennington and John Turner are the two pacers who could be the future stars for the England side in the future. The other bowlers in the team are Zaman Akhtar, Kasey Aldridge, Henry Crocombe, Tom Lawes, Harry Moore, and Mitchell Stanley.
Dale Steyn to help promising England Lions pacers during stay in South Africa
During his playing days for the Rainbow Nation, the 41-year-old has featured in 93 Test matches where he has notched up 439 wickets at an average of under 23 and a strike rate of seven overs, with the help of 26 five-wicket hauls at a best bowling figure of 7/51 in an inning.
In the ODI format of the game, the veteran has picked up 196 scalps in 125 innings at an average of below 26 and a strike rate of 31.9. In the case of the shortest format of the game, the fast bowler has bagged 64 wickets in 47 innings at an average of 18.35 and an economy rate of under seven.
The new ECB performance director, Ed Barney, who replaced Mo Bobat earlier this year, addressed that the seam-dominated side has reflected on the need for short and long-term pacers for England.
“Over half the squad consists of seamers, reflecting our continued focus on supporting these players to achieve their potential.” Barney expressed on the development.
McKenzie, the former batter for the South Africa side and who will work with Dale Steyn, will oversee the group of batters three recent members of the Under-19 England set-up in Freddi McCann, Ben McKinney, and Hamza Sheikh. Dan Mousley will be joining the Lions tour after traveling to the Caribbean for their white-ball series.
McKenzie was part of the coaching staff of Flintoff, who was in his first head coach role earlier this year. He took charge of the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred and also worked with the South African national side and Desert Vipers. He recently was replaced as the batting coach of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by Dinesh Karthik.
Dale Steyn has been part of 16 years in the international arena, and having known the conditions better than anyone, he will give huge support to the young England fast bowlers.
It has also been known that along with Dale Steyn, the former premier all-rounder of world cricket, Jacques Kallis, was also scoped out as an option for the South Africa camp, though it’s not expected to feature when a full list of coaching staff is announced later this week.