What's happened
Alex Lees has been dropped from the England cricket team for the winter tour of Pakistan and next month's trip to New Zealand.
Why it matters
Lees was an ever-present last summer as new captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum resurrected the fortunes of a flagging Test team. However, despite receiving plenty of public backing, he was ousted for the upcoming tours due to a lack of significant scores.
What the papers say
The Guardian and The Independent both report on Lees' dropping from the team, with similar quotes from Lees about the natural distaste in one's mouth when receiving bad news. Both sources also mention the praise Lees received from Stokes and McCullum, as well as his vulnerability due to a lack of significant scores. The Guardian article also includes a quote from Lees about his last year being 'a little bit bittersweet'.
How we got here
No background information is provided in the sources.
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