Gale, Sayers, Shahzad, Wainwright, Lyth and Bairstow will spend much of November and December in South Africa this winter as members of the England Performance Squad.

Add that to Bresnan and Rashid with the full England side and Rafiq, Root and Roebuck away with the England Under-19s it is going to be a little quiet at Headingley Carnegie this winter!!

The Performance Squad will spend just over a week in Loughborough before heading to South Africa in November.

The ECB today announced squads for an enhanced England Performance Programme beginning in November, involving a total of 41 players divided into squads according to their differing stages of development. The England Performance Programme comprises three categories of players and will encompass individuals who have represented England Under 19s and England Lions through to those who have already played Test cricket.

As part of the new programme, players have been categorised into three different groups ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C.’ ‘A’ graded players are those perceived to be closest to graduating into the England team and who have been part of the Programme and Lions teams in recent years. ‘B’ Group players are those with experience of First Class Cricket and perceived to be 1-3 years away from the England team. ‘C’ Group players are likely to be a little younger with less First Class County experience, many of whom have been part of the ECB Elite Player Development Programme.

The ‘A’ graded players will receive individualised support programmes, meeting their specific developmental needs.

Andrew Gale, Joe Sayers, Ajmal Shahzad and David Wainwright have been selected as 'B' graded players.

Jonathan Bairstow and Adam Lyth have been selected as 'C' graded players. 

LISTEN TO INTERVIEWS WITH DAVID WAINWRIGHT AND AJMAL SHAHZAD HERE

The ‘B’ and ‘C’ Group players will undertake separate training camps at the National Cricket Performance Centre (NCPC) at Loughborough and at the CSA High Performance Centre in Pretoria, South Africa , in November / December respectively.  Both camps will feature some competitive cricket opportunities.

The players on the South Africa training camp before Christmas will have the opportunity to work alongside former international stars Graham Gooch, Allan Donald and Saqlain Mushtaq, who will support the full-time coaching team of David Parsons , Kevin Shine , Dene Hills and Bruce French, at various stages throughout the camp.

As in previous winters, England Lions will undertake an overseas tour early in the New Year and further details of the squad and opposition will be released in due course.

‘A’ Players

Mark Davies ( Durham), Amjad Khan (Kent), Stephen Moore ( Lancashire), Michael Carberry (Hampshire)

‘B’ Players

Steven Finn (Middlesex), Andrew Gale ( Yorkshire), Rory Hamilton-Brown ( Sussex), Chris Jordan ( Surrey), Chris Nash ( Sussex), Joe Sayers ( Yorkshire), Ajmal Shahzad ( Yorkshire), James Taylor (Leicestershire), David Wainwright ( Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

‘C’ Players

Jonathan Bairstow ( Yorkshire), Vikram Banerjee (Gloucestershire), Keith Barker (Warwickshire), William Beer ( Sussex), Alex Blake ( Kent), Andy Carter (Nottinghamshire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire), Billy Godleman ( Essex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Richard Johnson (Warwickshire), Richard Jones (Worcestershire), Adam Lyth ( Yorkshire), Jake Mickleburgh ( Essex), Sam Northeast ( Kent), Ollie Rayner ( Sussex), Ian Saxelby (Gloucestershire), John Simpson (Middlesex), Tom Smith (Middlesex), Max Waller ( Somerset), Adam Wheater ( Essex), David Willey (Northamptonshire)

Fast Bowling Programme

Jade Dernbach ( Surrey), David Griffiths (Hampshire), James Harris (Glamorgan), Stuart Meaker ( Surrey), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)