Lions captaincy only the start for Yorkshire's Gale, says Miller

Yorkshire's Gale will lead a 15-man squad to the United Arab Emirates next month, notable in equal measure for its inclusions and omissions.

The captain himself and Ian Bell fall into the former category, while the absence of Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah – among others – is also instructive.

Miller speaks in glowing terms about Gale's potential, identifies a second chance for Test batsman Bell to restate his one-day international claims and explains why the time is not yet right for the acid test of Bopara's rehabilitation.

The Essex batsman has been making runs in Auckland this winter since being dropped from England's Test and ODI teams. He needs to make a few more, and start next summer well, before he will be back in the frame. "Ravi went away to sort himself out, get his game back together – and we thought the best way to allow him to continue was to leave it to the end of the winter, and then revisit it back in England," said Miller.

While Bopara must reinvent himself, it seems, other Lions are very upwardly mobile – none more than left-hander Gale, emerging Leicestershire batsman James Taylor and Somerset's South Africa-born wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter, who is newly qualified.

Gale, by contrast, has been qualified for all of his 26 years since birth in Dewsbury.

Yorkshire last month made him their youngest captain since Brian Sellars, and England are clearly thinking on the same lines.

"Obviously, Yorkshire see something in him," said Miller. "He's shown us, in the performance squad, what he's capable of, at Loughborough and out here in South Africa.

"He's ticked an awful lot of boxes, and we've given him the opportunity.

"It's the real start of his international career."

The three-and-a-half week tour – including Twenty20 matches against Pakistan A and England and 50-over fixtures against the former – is a trip Gale is relishing as he is joined in

the squad by Yorkshire spin duo Adil Rashid and David Wainwright and former White rose players Michael Lumb and Steve Kirby.

"I am proud to become the England Lions captain and I am excited about the opportunities the tour will hold for us as a team and individuals," he said. "The series against Pakistan A will give us an opportunity to test our skills against other international cricketers and will be a great way to taste the international arena."

England Lions squad: AW Gale (capt, Yorkshire), IR Bell (Warwicks), MA Carberry (Hampshire), MJ Lumb (Hampshire), JWA Taylor (Leics), C Kieswetter (wkt, Somerset), SM Davies (wkt, Surrey), PD Trego (Somerset), JC Tredwell (Kent), AU Rashid (Yorkshire), SI Mahmood (Lancashire), CR Woakes (Warwics), ST Finn (Middlesex), SP Kirby (Gloucs), DJ Wainwright (Yorkshire).