England players made available for semi-finals

Four members of England’s Champions Trophy squad have been made available for their counties' semi-finals this weekend.

Alex Hales and Jake Ball have been made available to play for Notts Outlaws on Friday in the first of the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-finals at the Cloudfm County Ground in Chelmsford, joining Stuart Broad and James Pattinson in a heavyweight clash against an Essex Eagles team including Alastair Cook.

The following day, Moeen Ali will return to the Worcestershire Rapids team at New Road to face a Surrey team who will have Jason Roy available for selection.

Moeen will also be available for Worcestershire’s next two fixtures in the Specsavers County Championship, at home to Kent next week followed by a trip to Durham in the day-night round of matches from June 26-29 – and Adil Rashid will be available for Yorkshire’s Division One match against Middlesex which starts at Lord’s on Monday.

That day-night round is set to feature more England players than any in recent memory. England’s management had already confirmed the availability of several players rested from next week’s NatWest IT20 series against South Africa, including the new Test captain Joe Root.

Today, after England’s Champions Trophy exit, they have also informed counties that other members of the one-day squad will be available – which means Jos Buttler joining Jimmy Anderson in Lancashire’s team to play Warwickshire at Edgbaston, and Sam Billings being available to make his first appearance of the season for Kent against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The players selected in England’s T20 squad will also be available to play for their counties in the day-night round.