The England & Wales Cricket Board have confirmed that Stuart Broad, Alex Hales and Jake Ball will all be available as Notts Outlaws face Durham and Lancashire Lightning in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Trent Bridge.
Hales and Ball will miss the forthcoming fixtures against Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston and Leicestershire Foxes at Welbeck due to England’s two-match Royal London One-Day International series against Ireland.
They will then return to Trent Bridge for additional competitive cricket ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Broad, meanwhile, is managing his workload ahead of a hectic schedule of Test cricket starting in July, but is hoping to feature in the entire Royal London One-Day Cup campaign as he targets the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.
"It's great for me to play in this Royal London One-Day Cup so I get to play a bit of white-ball cricket consistently - eight games and hopefully we'll go through and experience the pressures of knockout cricket," said Broad.
"I haven't played as much white-ball cricket to improve as I'd like in the last couple of years due to the heaviness of Test cricket but this is a great opportunity.
"I'm only 30 and there's a World Cup in 2019 which it would be a dream to play in and that's certainly on my mind."
Broad’s availability has also been confirmed for the following four Specsavers County Championship matches:
- Glamorgan (away): May 19-22
- Gloucestershire (home): May 26-29
- Leicestershire (home): June 19-22
- Kent (home): June 26-29 – day-night round.
- Not available for matches against Derbyshire (June 2-5) or Gloucestershire (June 9-12).
Andrew Strauss, the director, England cricket, added: “This was always going to be a difficult summer in terms of managing the workload on our England players, 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.
“We also have Lions matches against South Africa and South Africa A as part of the reciprocal arrangements which allow our future England players to gain valuable experience overseas in the winter.
“We appreciate all of this causes disruption for counties and frustration for their supporters, and we are grateful to them for seeing the big picture in appreciating the need for us to ensure that key players remain in the best possible condition for the challenges ahead.
“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.”
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