England Lions

In February 2020 at the MCG, the England Lions did something it had never managed before: beat Australia A in an Unofficial Test. That result sums up what the England Lions are for. The side is not a club in the ordinary sense but the development team run by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

It started in 1982 as England B, took the field against Pakistan that year, and went through two more names before settling on its current one. A tour to Zimbabwe in 1989/90 came under the England A banner.

Joe Root and Ben Stokes both passed through the Lions before establishing themselves at the top of English cricket, and the list of graduates behind them runs to most of the country's recent Test regulars. The Lions train and often play at the Haslegrave Ground in Loughborough, a 1,500-seat ground that doubles as the National Cricket Performance Centre — a home suited to a side built for coaching more than for crowds.

Results swing with the purpose of the exercise: a 254-run win over India A in 2018 sits alongside series defeats to India A and South Africa A in more recent years, outcomes that matter less than what individual players show under pressure. The clearest rivalry the Lions have built is with India A, the opponent they have met most often in Unofficial Tests, in matches where the cricket is real even if the stakes are development, not silverware.