England have made two changes to the squad for The London Cup this week in Chiswick. Surbiton’s Richard Alexander and East Grinstead’s Mark Pearn have been called up to replace Old Loughtonians’ Harry Martin and Surbiton’s Matt Daly, both of whom have been withdrawn on fitness grounds.
Alexander and Pearn both played in the recent Rabo Four Nations Cup in the Netherlands, where England finished second to the Dutch, ahead of Olympic champions Germany and Asian Games champions Pakistan. 34 year old Pearn made his 150th appearance for England in Amstelveen and will be looking forward to celebrating the milestone in front of a home crowd. Should he find the net twice in matches against Belgium, Korea and New Zealand the double Olympian, who competed for Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, will also be celebrating a half century of goals for England.
150 appearances is also a milestone that captain Barry Middleton will be looking forward to reaching. With 148 England appearances to his name, the 27 year old from Doncaster should reach number 150 at The London Cup. If selected for Tuesday’s opener against Belgium and Wednesday evening’s game against Korea it will be against the Koreans that he wins his 150th cap. And Beeston’s Adam Dixon could also be in line for special recognition, going into the tournament three caps short of 50 for England.
Tickets are still available for all four days of the tournament with spectators able to buy on the gate each day at the University of Westminster sports ground in Chiswick, West London. Prices start from just £5 for under 18s and £10 for adults.
England get their campaign underway against Belgium at 14:00 on Tuesday afternoon, following New Zealand and Korea, who open the tournament at 11:45 the same day. The full match schedule is as follows:
THE LONDON CUP MATCH SCHEDULE
Tuesday 12 July (schools day) – gates open 10:30
11:45 Korea v New Zealand
14:00 England v Belgium
Wednesday 13 July (ladies evening) – gates open 16:30
17:45 Belgium v New Zealand
20:00 England v Korea
Thursday 14 July
Rest Day
Friday 15 July – gates open 16:30
17:45 Belgium v Korea
20:00 England v New Zealand
Saturday 16 July (EHB Annual Awards 2011) – gates open 11:00
15:00 Bronze Medal Match
17:30 Gold Medal Match
ENGLAND SQUAD FOR THE LONDON CUP
Name (Club) Position Eng Caps/Eng Goals GB Caps/GB Goals - Age
Richard Alexander (Surbiton) Defender/Midfielder/Forward 119/10 46/5 - 29
Nick Brothers (Reading) Goalkeeper 28/0 7/0 - 27
Nick Catlin (Loughborough Students) Forward 35/3 7/1 - 22
Jonty Clarke (Reading) Forward 129/27 40/11 - 30
Adam Dixon (Beeston) Defender/Midfielder 47/0 12/0 - 24
James Fair (Cannock) Goalkeeper 76/0 19/0 - 30
Ben Hawes (Wimbledon) Defender 123/25 69/19 - 30
Glenn Kirkham (East Grinstead) Midfielder 135/7 49/4 - 28
Iain Lewers (Loughborough Students) Defender 4/0 7/0 - 27
Iain Mackay (Reading) Midfielder 52/10 12/1 - 26
Richard Mantell (Reading) Defender 104/47 41/19 - 29
Simon Mantell (Reading) Forward 79/35 41/6 - 27
Barry Middleton (c) (Der Club an der Alster) Midfielder/Forward 148/37 80/28 - 27
Rob Moore (Wimbledon) Midfielder/Forward 138/18 63/17 - 30
Mark Pearn (East Grinstead) Forward 150/48 76/21 - 34
Richard Smith (Loughborough Students) Defender 53/6 7/3 - 23
James Tindall (Surbiton) Forward 115/50 46/17 - 28
Alastair Wilson (Beeston) Defender 92/6 42/0 – 27
