The teams for the hotly anticipated North vs South box lacrosse game have been announced and include thirteen of the twenty-three England players who played at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships.
England stars Eliot Pugh, Chris Hockey, Albert Whitehead, Tom Roche, Gavin Abrahamson, and Ben Colville have all been selected for the South team while Matt Tatton, Will Allsop, Jamie Sutton, Chris Wainer, Dom Fitzgerald, Cai Jefferies, and Matt Marsh will play for the North team.
Andy Downing, who coached England in the summer, will lead the North team with David Leach and Alan Keeley taking charge of the South team.
This game is a landmark for box lacrosse in England and follows on from the successful 4th placed finish at the World Box Lacrosse Championships in Canada last year.
England beat Israel in the pool stage, Finland in the first knockout game, and Israel again in the quarter final before falling to Canada in the semi-final.
They then showed how far box lacrosse has come in England over the past few years by pushing a very good USA side all the way in the third place play-off.
The North vs South game is a big chance to showcase a different form of lacrosse and highlight its strengths with the aim of drumming up more interest in the sport in the build up to the 2021 European Box Lacrosse Championships.
The game takes place this Sunday (15 March) at the Midland Roller Arena, Lutterworth.
A full programme for the game can be found here:
In addition to the game on Sunday, two more North vs South matches have been announced; the first will take place on Saturday 9th May and the second on Saturday 16th May, both in Sheffield.
Full teams can be found below:
North Team
Goalkeeper
Isaac Tweedale (Timperley)
Defence
Matt Tatton (Brooklands)
Will Allsop (Brooklands)
Jamie Sutton (Manchester Waconians)
Andy Ellison (Heaton Mersey)
Tom Hallam ( Mellor)
Oli Roberson (Mellor)
Chris Wainer (Heaton Mersey)
Transition
Jason Erwin (Brooklands)
Eliot Leonard (Norbury)
Attack
Dom Fitzgerald (Manchester Waconians)
Cai Jefferies (Heaton Mersey)
Sam Patterson (Stockport)
Josh Simpson Pink (Mellor)
Ollie Allsop (Brooklands)
Dave Groves (Stockport)
Matt Marsh (c) (Mellor)
Coach
Andy Downing
South Team
Goalkeeper
Eliot Pugh (Milton Keynes)
Ben Stowe (Welwyn Warriors)
Defence
Chris Hockey (Spencer)
Peter Shepherd (Camden Capybaras)
Albert Whitehead (Spencer)
Corey Jamieson (Milton Keynes)
Tom Roche (c) (Mellor)
Taylor Harrison (Spencer)
Transition
Austin Holgate (Camden Capybaras)
Gavin Abrahamson ( London Raptors)
Ben Stringer (Hillcroft)
Tom Bracegirdle (Spencer)
Attack
Ben Buchanan (Spencer)
Rob Holmes (Spencer)
Jamie Powell (Unattached)
Pete Wilson (Bristol Bombers)
Sam Perry (Hitchin)
Ben Colville (London Raptors
Coach
David Leach
Alan Keeley