BOLTON cricket star Haseeb Hameed had a day to remember yesterday.

Hours after the opening batsman had his spot in the England squad for the first two Tests against India confirmed, the Nottinghamshire man scored 112 of a County Select XI’s 220-9 against the tourists.

His patient innings came off 246 balls and included 13 fours, underlining his international credentials.

Hameed was tipped for big things when he impressed as a teenager in his Test bow in India almost five years ago – dubbed ‘baby Boycott’ by team-mates – but fell off the radar entirely after his initial run was ended by a broken finger.

On his return to county cricket with Lancashire he lost all semblance of form and found himself playing second XI cricket after averaging less than 10 in 2018. He was released the following year and picked up by Nottinghamshire, whose coach Peter Moores set about rehabilitating his talent.

Since moving to Trent Bridge in the winter of 2019, the 24-year-old has scored 914 runs in 14 matches at an average of 43.52.

His twin hundreds at Worcestershire earlier this summer marked his first for Notts, as he set a record for the greatest number of deliveries faced in a County Championship fixture, of 636.

Hameed returned to the England fold earlier this summer for the New Zealand series following the withdrawal of Ben Foakes with a hamstring injury.

And now he is part of a squad that includes the recalled Ollie Robinson, back having served a ban for a series of offensive historic tweets.

The Sussex seamer was handed a dream Lord’s debut against New Zealand in June but saw the occasion turn into a nightmare when racist, sexist and otherwise abhorrent messages dating back almost a decade came to light.

The 27-year-old ended his first day as an international cricketer with a public apology but was not considered for the next match and an investigation by the Cricket Discipline Committee saw him handed an eight-match ban, with five of those suspended for two years.

He has since made a low-key return to county action but has been recalled by England head coach Chris Silverwood at the first time of asking, joining a 17-man party for the first two Tests against India next month.

Elsewhere in the squad, which remains at swollen levels due to the coronavirus situation, Ben Stokes makes his return to the red-ball side after missing the series defeat to the Black Caps.

Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow are back as wicketkeeper-batsmen, after James Bracey endured a torrid time while deputising against New Zealand, and Sam Curran returns as an all-round option.

Yorkshire’s Dom Bess comes in as back-up to first-choice spinner Jack Leach, but there is no place for Moeen Ali or Bolton’s Matt

Parkinson.