Great Britain Head Coach Jason Lee has named two uncapped athletes in his 18 man squad for the forthcoming Men's Four Nations Tournament, which gets underway at Highfields Sports Club in Nottingham, England next week.
18 Year old Brooklands MU defender Andy Bull and Old Loughtonians midfielder Harry Martin, who is 17, will make the step up from the England under 18 squad to the senior Great Britain side as Lee holds back several regulars with one eye on England's ABN AMRO FIH Champions Trophy campaign in M├Ânchengladbach at the end of the month.
Both players were involved in the England under 18 National Age Group Squad that competed in a four nations tournament in Hanover at Easter and Bull recently scored for the England Under 21 men's side that finished narrow runners up to Germany at the Junior Challenge Open tournament in Siemianowice, Poland, in May.
Speaking as the squad was announced, Lee said: ÔÇ£We have tried to continue to give international tournament experience to new and upcoming players, particularly with a view to developing a squad of players for the 2012 Olympics. Of course, in order to achieve this some more established players will miss out on either the Men's Four Nations Tournament or the Champions Trophy.
ÔÇ£It is particularly exciting that 17 year old Harry Martin and 18 year old Andy Bull will be getting their first senior caps, especially as they were only in the under 18s at the start of the year.ÔÇØ
Also included in the squad for Nottingham is the reigning World Young Player of the Year, Ashley Jackson, who finished as top goal scorer in this season's Dutch Hoofdklasse with 29 goals for HGC, 21 of which came from penalty corners.
Jackson's teammate at HGC, Barry Middleton, will captain Great Britain in Nottingham.
Simon Mantell returns to senior international hockey after withdrawing from England's World Cup squad in February with a foot injury while his Reading teammate Richard Springham will be one of seven players to win their first caps for Great Britain.
There is still plenty of experience in the squad with Olympians Richard Alexander, Glenn Kirkham, Niall Stott, James Tindall and Alastair Wilson lining up alongside Jackson, Mantell and Middleton.
The Men's Four Nations Tournament will be the British hockey playing public's first chance to see Great Britain's men in action ahead of the 2012 London Olympics as they take on 2008 Olympic champions Germany, Japan and New Zealand. Great Britain face Japan on Monday 12 July before playing Germany on Wednesday 14th and New Zealand on Friday 16th. The final and bronze medal matches take place on Saturday 17 July.
As well as the Men's Four Nations Tournament, Highfields Sports Club will be hosting the Samsung FIH Champions Trophy, Women, Nottingham 2010 from Saturday 10 July. The event brings together six of the world's best hockey playing nations in the women's game with England set to test themselves against Argentina, China, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Team Great Britain: Richard Alexander, Alastair Brogdon, Nick Brothers, Andy Bull, Nick Catlin, Adam Dixon, James Fair, Ashley Jackson, Glenn Kirkham, Iain Mackay, Simon Mantell, Harry Martin, Barry Middleton, Richard Smith, Richard Springham, Niall Stott, James Tindall, Alastair Wilson.
Source: Great Britain Hockey ltd.
