Falcons director of rugby, John Fletcher, said: “We have four players in the senior England squad and now four in the Churchill Cup, which would have been five had we not pulled David Wilson out due to injury yesterday.

“Having said that there are still a number of our squad who can count themselves extremely unlucky not to be going on either tour.”

With scrum half Dickson in the unusual position of having earlier been named in the Scotland squad for the same competition, Fletcher said: “Lee has had a very tough decision to make this week, and I know he has agonised over it.

“Having spoken to his family about it and taken a lot of time to weigh up the options he has opted for England, but it was one of those situations where there was no wrong decision and we just offered our support regardless of which way he decided to go.”

Having chosen the England option, Dickson said: “It has been the biggest decision of my life.

“Everybody has been really supportive including the club, my family and my girlfriend while I’ve been having a few sleepless nights over it, but I feel in the end that I’ve made the right choice.”

England Saxons open their Churchill Cup campaign on Friday May 18 v USA at Sale Sharks’ Edgeley Park Ground.

They then travel to Twickenham for the second game when they take on Scotland A on Monday May 28 before the finals day, also at Twickenham, on Saturday June 2.

England Saxons squad:
 
Forwards:

Richard Blaze (Worcester Warriors)
Chris Brooker (NEC Harlequins)
John Brooks (Northampton Saints)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons)
Jim Evans (NEC Harlequins)
Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby)
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Neal Hatley (London Irish)
Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby)
Tom Mercey (Saracens)
David Paice (London Irish)
Kieran Roche (London Irish)
David Seymour (Saracens)
Will Skinner (NEC Harlequins)
Ben Skirving (Saracens)
Matt Thompson (Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Woods (Newcastle Falcons)
 
Backs:

Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Delon Armitage (London Irish)
Iain Balshaw (Gloucester Rugby)
Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby)
Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons)
Paul Diggin (Northampton Saints)
Ayoola Erinle (London Wasps)
Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
Adrian Jarvis (NEC Harlequins)
Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby)
Nils Mordt (London Irish)
Topsy Ojo (London Irish)
Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
Dan Scarbrough (Saracens)
Kevin Sorrell (Saracens)
Tom Voyce (London Wasps)
Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)