Sam Billings wants to lead England Lions against South Africa

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Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings said that captaining the England Lions against South Africa would improve his chance of being included in the Test squad.

Billings, who led Oval Invincibles to a win over Welsh Fire on Sunday, claimed that an immediate shift to red-ball cricket would be a challenge.

“It is a challenge. But it is what it is really,” he said. “As players, we want to give ourselves the best chance of playing for England, it’s as simple as that."

The 31-year-old said players who were waiting for an England recall should improve their display. These included himself, Ollie Robinson, Keaton Jennings, and Craig Overton.

“It’s an opportunity, of course, for individuals to pursue their ambitions,” Billings said.

“It definitely is the best way in a schedule where there’s not much red-ball cricket around the Test series, so it is the perfect opportunity to do so. So a lot of people this week have got points to prove and opportunities to kind of take.”

Preparing for the challenge

The England Lions squad gathered in Canterbury before the start of a four-day Test match against South Africa on Tuesday.

Harry Brook and Will Jacks are two players among the 13-man squad that will be captained by Billings in the match. The latter performed well in the T20 and the ODI series earlier in the summer.

“It is challenging but, like I said, it is something that you’ve just kind of got to find a way to manoeuvre around and adapt to,” Billings said.

Amusing karmic injury

During the match between the Rockets and the Invincibles last season, Billings and umpire Nigel Llong laughed at Alex Hales after Reece Topley hit him in consecutive deliveries.

This year, Billings had the misfortune of missing an attempted reverse sweep off Welsh Fire spinner Adam Zampa. He got struck below the belt and collapsed to the ground. Kevin Pietersen and Robert Croft laughed at Billings.

Billings told Sky Sports that he deserved it.

"It serves me right. I was laughing at Alex Hales at the Oval last year when he had two in two,” he said.

"It doesn't get any better with age. I was in strife when I got out as well, I was in a lot of strife."

Despite the injury, the Invincibles managed to win by 39 runs after Will Jacks scored 81 runs off 45 balls, earning them a total of 158-5, while the Fire scored 119-6. Billings praised Jack and Sunil Narine, who recorded 3-21.

"He bowled in the nets yesterday on a very similar surface, and I don't think anyone hit him! He got about 17 wickets... He's just a world-class performer, and for a captain, he can just bowl at any phase of the game, which is huge,” Billings said of Narine.

"Will Jacks also batted beautifully, earning the right at the end on a difficult pitch. We lost too many wickets early the other night. He's a young player who's got an exciting future ahead of him. That was a coming-of-age knock."