30-year-old Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne has been named in the England squad for the one-day series with South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Alleyne is averaging 24 in one-day competition with the bat this season and has taken the same number of wickets at an average of 28. He had a successful summer last year and was leading all-rounder in the National rankings. He went on a Cricket Max tour of New Zealand with England but was not selected to go with on the England tour of the West Indies. In Gloucestershire's Spring Newsletter, Alleyne said that his 'desire to play at the very top has deepened to depths that I did not know existed'. He has played a League record 147 consecutive games in the competition for Gloucestershire.

The provisional 37-man squad contains many uncapped players and Alleyne is one of nine all-rounders. The squad is named with the World Cup, being played in England next year, in mind. A 30-strong squad is needed for the competition and has to be named before January 15th 1999.