England batter Alex Lees 'gutted' to be left out of Test tour to Pakistan

The left-handed opener was axed for next month's tour of Pakistan after a run of 10 consecutive appearances, with Keaton Jennings and Ben Duckett called up in his stead earlier this month.

The Durham man and his top-order partner Zak Crawley both found themselves under pressure throughout the summer as they struggled for runs, but only Lees has paid with a place after averaging 23.84 in 19 innings.

A determined 39 in the season-ending victory over South Africa at the Oval was not enough to salvage his spot, though an apparently fractured digit offers fresh context, and he has now set his sights on winning it back.

Posting on Twitter alongside a picture of him taking the field with England, he wrote: "Gutted about not being selected for the upcoming tour.

"Loved every minute of this summer & I'm going to work all out this winter to try and get back to where I want to be.

"Also the finger I broke in the last test has healed super quick so can't wait to start batting again."

Lees was also left out of the England Lions squad that will hold a training camp in the United Arab Emirates in November and will likely need to score heavily in county cricket to warrant fresh attention from selectors.