Kent’s England trio of Sam Billings, Zak Crawley and Joe Denly have been named amongst the group of men’s players that have been asked to return to training, as England prepare for the prospect of behind-closed-doors cricket, subject to UK Government clearance.
The ECB continues to work closely with its county partners to provide a safe and efficient return to practice for players, and is grateful for the support of the counties in assisting with the coaching provision across this period.
Squads for specific formats will be announced in due course.
ECB Performance Director Mo Bobat said: “It’s really pleasing to be in a position to have players returning to training and a huge amount of work has been done by many to get us this far. The pool of players will give selectors strong options when it comes to selecting squads across formats further down the line, as we move closer to our aim of playing international cricket this summer.”
“We will need to continue to work closely with our medical team and government to ensure that our return to training and play activities are in line with best-practice guidelines. We’re also really grateful for the positive and collaborative response from our county colleagues who are doing a great job at facilitating coaching and support for the players. The fact that we can call on our network to support the national effort shows the strength of our system.”
Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said: “We’re delighted to have three Kent players announced in England’s back-to-training group, as they compete for selection in the senior England side.
“Joe and Zak are the men in possession of top order Test batting spots, whilst Sam was vice-captain of England in the IT20 series against New Zealand last November.
“It’s great to see all three have been recognised and given this opportunity.
“Their selection is testament to the growing pool of talent we have at Kent, with Matt Milnes and Ollie Robinson also being recognised last winter with selection for the England Lions tour of Australia.”
England’s ‘back-to-training’ group in full:
- Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)
- James Anderson (Lancashire)
- Jofra Archer (Sussex)
- Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)
- Tom Banton (Somerset)
- Dom Bess (Somerset)
- Sam Billings (Kent)
- James Bracey (Gloucestershire)
- Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
- Henry Brookes (Warwickshire)
- Pat Brown (Worcestershire)
- Rory Burns (Surrey)
- Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
- Brydon Carse (Durham)
- Mason Crane (Hampshire)
- Zak Crawley (Kent)
- Sam Curran (Surrey)
- Tom Curran (Surrey)
- Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
- Joe Denly (Kent)
- Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
- Laurie Evans (Sussex)
- Ben Foakes (Surrey)
- Richard Gleeson (Lancashire)
- Lewis Gregory (Somerset)
- Sam Hain (Warwickshire)
- Tom Helm (Middlesex)
- Will Jacks (Surrey)
- Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
- Chris Jordan (Sussex)
- Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire)
- Dan Lawrence (Essex)
- Jack Leach (Somerset)
- Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
- Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)
- Dawid Malan (Yorkshire)
- Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)
- Craig Overton (Somerset)
- Jamie Overton (Somerset)
- Matt Parkinson (Lancashire)
- Ollie Pope (Surrey)
- Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
- Ollie Robinson (Sussex)
- Joe Root (Yorkshire)
- Jason Roy (Surrey)
- Phil Salt (Sussex)
- Dom Sibley (Warwickshire)
- Ben Stokes (Durham)
- Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
- Reece Topley (Surrey)
- James Vince (Hampshire)
- Amar Virdi (Surrey)
- David Willey (Yorkshire)
- Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
- Mark Wood (Durham)