England have confirmed the availability of several players for their counties for key end-of-season fixtures. Jake Ball has rejoined Nottinghamshire for their last two matches in the Specsavers County Championship, and in the first of them against the Division One leaders Middlesex starting at Trent Bridge he is set to face Steven Finn, who has recovered from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the Royal London One-Day Series.
England had already confirmed that Finn would be available for Middlesex when fit, as they chase a first Championship title since 1993, with further fixtures against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford starting next Monday and Yorkshire at Lord’s in the last round of matches starting on Tuesday September 20.
Chris Woakes and Jason Roy have been confirmed as available for the final of the Royal London One-Day Cup between Warwickshire and Surrey at Lord’s on Saturday September 17. Roy is also in England’s squad for the NatWest IT20 against Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford on Wednesday, but England have asked Warwickshire to rest Woakes from their last fixture of the season in the Specsavers County Championship, against Lancashire at Edgbaston, after his busy international summer.
England have also advised Yorkshire that Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow should take a break after Wednesday’s IT20, meaning they will not be available for the Specsavers County Championship matches against Somerset and Middlesex.
A decision on the availability of David Willey, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett will be made after Wednesday’s last international of the summer – as with Ben Stokes and Mark Wood for Durham, Alex Hales for Nottinghamshire, Chris Jordan for Sussex, Jos Buttler for Lancashire, Moeen Ali for Worcestershire, Sam Billings for Kent and Roy for Surrey’s last Championship game at Durham.
James Vince and Liam Dawson are both available to Hampshire for their last two Championship matches of the season, against Surrey this week and Durham in the last round of fixtures.
