Jason Roy has been a peripheral figure at the IPL and will return to action with Surrey © BCCI
The ECB has confirmed that Jason Roy will cut short his IPL stint with Gujarat Lions, and will instead turn out for Surrey in two Royal London One-Day Cup fixtures later this month, following the completion of this week’s ODI series against Ireland.
Roy, who was picked up by Gujarat in the second round of bidding at the IPL auction in February, had originally been expected to return to India to complete his stint with the franchise following the completion of the second ODI at Lord’s on Sunday.
However, he has played a peripheral role for Gujarat in his maiden IPL stint, with just three outings and a top-score of 31 from 21 balls to date, and having indicated last month that an early return to county cricket was on the cards, he has now been released by the ECB to play in two RLODC matches against Essex on May 12 and Hampshire on May 14.
Roy’s presence in Surrey’s ranks will be a significant boost to the club’s hopes of qualifying for the competition’s knockouts, following a stunning defeat in their opening fixture at Taunton last week, in which Roelof van der Merwe’s unbeaten century rescued Somerset from a scoreline of 22 for 5.
The majority of England’s 14-man squad will be made available to their counties after the Ireland series, as the selectors look to squeeze as much white-ball practice into their players ahead of the Champions Trophy which gets underway on June 1.
Durham’s Mark Wood is due to face Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales, Stuart Broad and Jake Ball in the televised match at Trent Bridge next Wednesday, while Moeen Ali is in line to face his former club Warwickshire in the midlands derby at New Road on May 12.
Yorkshire Vikings will have Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid available for Wednesday’s home game against Durham, although the England seamers from both counties – Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Wood – have been advised to rest ahead of England’s first match against Ireland in Bristol on Friday.
Further afield, England’s Test specialists – Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Alastair Cook, Haseeb Hameed, Keaton Jennings and Gary Balance – will be available for the majority of matches in the next block of County Championship fixtures up until the end of June, which will include a round of floodlit pink-ball matches that will be used as practice for the day-night Test again West Indies at Edgbaston on August 17-21.
“This was always going to be a difficult summer in terms of managing the workload on our England players,” Andrew Strauss, the director, England cricket, said, “with such a hectic schedule including the Champions Trophy as well as seven Tests, followed by an equally busy winter in Australia and New Zealand.
“All these decisions are taken after consultation with the players, and I know they will be pleased to have the opportunity to play in some important Royal London One-Day Cup matches next week, and then in the Specsavers County Championship later in May and June.”
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo