England Lions' head coach Andy Flower on Thursday said winning is the objective on their winter tour to India, but insists that the development opportunities for the young cricketers in unfamiliar conditions are the key to a successful tour.
"Both sides will want to play good, winning cricket but I think we all understand that it is the development opportunity for these high potential youngsters that we are after," the England and Wales Cricket Board quoted Flower, as saying.
"The purpose of these Lions' tours is to offer our highest potential young talent in the country, the opportunity to either train or to play in a competitive tour in foreign conditions. Our county system is good; there are some really talented, outstanding cricketers that come out of it," he added.
The Lions squad landed in Trivandrum on January 13 ahead of a month-long series against India A. The teams are slated to play five one-day games and two four-day unofficial Test matches.
Supported by coaches Kevin Shine, Peter Such, Carl Hopkinson and Jonathan Trott, Flower hopes that the English players will make the most of the opportunity on and off the pitch.
The likes of captain Sam Billings, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope have been selected for the squad at this level.
"It is good for us to offer these environments for our best young talent to grow within. There is also a great opportunity for us to get to know the players and see how they respond to the various challenges. We see how they respond to stress - and we try to put them under a bit of stress," he said.
"It is always really exciting playing cricket in India - the passion and love of the game is something special to behold for us when we visit. The conditions are quite particular and make for very interesting cricket, so I hope our young boys learn quickly and challenge India's best youngsters," Flower concluded.
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