Hampshire starlet Liam Dawson is with the England Lions as planned – despite Samit Patel’s exclusion from the one-day leg of England’s Caribbean tour.

Dawson, 19 on Sunday, has had a month off since captaining England U19s in South Africa and flew to New Zealand last night for the last three weeks of the Lions tour.

He was supposed to replace fellow slow left armer Patel, but the Nottinghamshire all rounder was yesterday denied the chance to play in England’s one-day series against the West Indies because of his poor fitness.

Hugh Morris, the ECB Managing Director, said: “Samit Patel is a talented cricketer but he must be aware of the strict fitness criteria.

“It is extremely frustrating that Samit has not heeded the warnings of his county, Nottinghamshire, and the England National Selector Geoff Miller as well as the England management and strength and conditioning team. In the circumstances we had no option but to de-select him from the tour.”

Adil Rashid, who has been a part of the England Test squad, will remain in Trinidad for the Twenty20 game against West Indies and the five one-day internationals.

Dawson will now replace Gareth Batty, who has gone to the Caribbean to cover for the injured Graeme Swann.

If the Hampshire youngster plays in the second unofficial Test against New Zealand A this weekend, he will become the youngest player to represent the Lions for more than 12 years.

He said: “It’s a massive thing in my career - probably the biggest so far, and hopefully I can give my best.

"It’s going to be a shock when I get there, but I’m looking forward to learning from top players like Rob Key.”