Aneurin Donald equalled Ravi Shastri’s record at 19, and England have picked him at 29

England named their squads for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka on Friday, September 4, and two of the players in them have never been capped by their country. Aneurin Donald is in the 16 for the T20Is. Henry Crocombe is in the 16 for the ODIs. Harry Brook captains both.

The record Donald has shared with Ravi Shastri since he was 19

On July 17, 2016, Glamorgan were playing Derbyshire at Colwyn Bay, and Donald, 19 years old and making his maiden County Championship hundred, reached 200 off 123 balls. That matched the fastest first-class double hundred anyone had made: Ravi Shastri’s 200 off 123 balls for Bombay against Baroda at the Wankhede in January 1985, the innings in which Shastri took six sixes off Tilak Raj. Donald reached 100, 150 and 200 with sixes. His second hundred took 43 deliveries. He finished on 234 from 136 balls with 26 fours and 15 sixes, the most sixes any Glamorgan batter had hit in an innings.

Neither man holds the record now. Shafiqullah Shinwari reached a double century in 89 balls in Afghan domestic cricket in 2017-18 and the mark moved on. What did not move was Donald’s international career, which stayed on nothing for the next ten years.

He left Glamorgan for Hampshire, then joined Derbyshire for the 2024 season, which means he now plays for the county whose bowlers he took apart in north Wales. He is 29. The call-up is built on a summer of extreme hitting: 489 runs in 12 Vitality Blast matches at a strike rate near 230, and 37 sixes. Last year he made 51 off 13 balls against Yorkshire, equalling Marcus Trescothick’s 2010 mark for the quickest fifty in the tournament’s history.

Crocombe took two hat-tricks in eight days

Crocombe is 24, bowls right-arm seam and has spent his whole career at Sussex, though he moves to Surrey when this season ends. On August 27 he took three wickets in three balls against Somerset at Hove. On September 3 at Chelmsford he did it again, ripping out Essex from 171 for 3 to 177 all out inside 26 balls and finishing with 5 for 39. His five wickets came in 14 deliveries without a run conceded. Hat-tricks in consecutive first-class matches have happened seven times in the history of the game.

He is not entirely new to an England dressing room. He was called into the Test squad against New Zealand earlier this summer without playing. His career numbers are 106 first-class wickets, 49 in List A cricket and 34 in T20s.

“Aneurin Donald and Henry Crocombe are two promising players who have earned their places on the back of impressive performances in domestic cricket,” national selector Marcus North said.

Carse is in neither squad

Brydon Carse does not appear in the T20I or the ODI group, and the ECB explained why rather than leaving it to be guessed at. On August 22 he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly outside a bar in Derby while celebrating a Durham win in the County Championship, and de-arrested shortly afterwards. He lost his place in the Lord’s Test squad over it, and he will miss the Edgbaston Test too.

“Given recent events, we feel it is important for him to work through the issues that led to the Derby incident and take time for a proper reset,” the board said. “This decision does not prejudge the outcome of any investigation.” The Cricket Regulator is looking into his conduct.

Three injuries made room

Phil Salt has a right quad problem. Sam Curran has had groin surgery and will not play again this summer. Jacob Bethell went under the knife on his knee this week and is targeting the white-ball tour of Australia in November. That is an opening batter, an all-rounder and the young batter England keep trying to fit into every format, all gone at once.

Jamie Overton comes back into both squads. His IPL ended early when he flew home from Chennai Super Kings with a thigh injury, at a point where he was their second-highest wicket-taker with 14 at 17.78, and the same problem kept him out against India.

Six matches in 13 days

The T20Is are at Southampton on September 15, Cardiff on September 17 and Old Trafford on September 19. The ODIs follow at Chester-le-Street on September 22, Headingley on September 24 and the Oval on September 27. Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed come into the 50-over squad only, James Coles and Saqib Mahmood into the T20 squad only, and Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Jordan Cox, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid and Josh Tongue are in both.

More cricket stories from around the grounds