Alex Lees' England career is in danger of coming to an end after just ten Test matches, with the opener left off the list of central contract recipients.
England have handed out 18 full central contracts, six incremental deals and six pace bowling development contracts, but Lees was conspicuous by his absence on the list of 30 players. Managing Director of England Men's Cricket Rob Key said those offered deals will "play a pivotal role in England's efforts over the next 12 months", meaning Lees is facing a nervous wait to see if he makes the squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan.
This summer, Lees scored 327 runs at an average of 25.15 across seven Tests, while his opening partner Zak Crawley made 276 at 23.00 in the same period. Despite the pair's struggles, Key insisted ahead of the final Test of the summer against South Africa that they would be given "a proper go" at the top of the order after England's struggles to find replacements for Sir Andrew Strauss and Sir Alastair Cook.
"We just want to make sure we're going to give people opportunity," he told Sky Sports . "If there's ever a time when we have new opening batters or new players, they will know they will get the same amount of opportunity as these guys have done.
"We have spent 10 years since Strauss and Cook, trying to find an opening partnership and it is the toughest part of batting at the moment. We've gone backwards and forwards with all these different people, we're going to give them a proper go."
But while Crawley has retained a full central contract, the fact that Lees has not even received an incremental deal does not bode well for his future. Nottinghamshire star Ben Duckett is a potential option to replace Lees at the top of the order, while Lancashire's Keaton Jennings could also earn a recall.
Duckett was called into the squad for the final South Africa Test this summer as an injury replacement for Jonny Bairstow and opened for England in four Tests against Bangladesh and India back in 2016. He is a much improved player now, having struck 1,012 runs at 72.28 in this year's County Championship, but has excelled batting at number three for Nottinghamshire.
Jennings, meanwhile, boasts an impressive Test record in Asia and will certainly be under consideration to make the trip to Pakistan. In ten innings in India and Sri Lanka, Jennings has made two hundreds and scored 440 runs at 44.44.
He has also enjoyed a stellar County Championship season, ending as the leading run scorer in Division One with 1,233 runs at 72.52. And while the Pakistan squad will not be finalised until later this week, things are not looking good for Lees.
