3 Jun 2015 | Cricket
The NatWest T20 Blast will receive a major dollop of stardust this weekend when almost all of the England players are available to play for their counties - and that theme will continue in the LV= County Championship over the coming weeks.
In the short-term Joe Root and Jos Buttler could square off in the Roses match at Headingley on Friday night - a mouthwatering fixture that will also feature an Australian showdown between Yorkshire's Glenn Maxwell and Lancashire's James Faulkner.
That is probably the headline match in a programme that should also allow Durham fans to acclaim their new England hero Ben Stokes against Blast holders Birmingham Bears in Saturday's televised match at the Emirates Durham ICG, after he has also played under the Derbyshire floodlights the previous night.
Stuart Broad has been freed to line up against his former county Leicestershire Foxes on Friday night at Trent Bridge in a Notts Outlaws team that could also include Alex Hales, James Taylor and their short-term signing Darren Sammy.
Eoin Morgan and Steven Finn will boost Middlesex's hopes of building on their impressive recent Blast form in consecutive away games at Hampshire and Glamorgan tomorrow and Friday before the England one-day squad assembles in Birmingham at the weekend, and Sam Billings, David Willey and Jason Roy will also hope to contribute for their counties on Friday night at Beckenham, Northampton and the Kia Oval respectively.
England are happy for Taylor and Hales to report for national duty in Birmingham 24 hours later than the rest of the squad allowing them to make an extra appearance for the Outlaws on Sunday afternoon at Worcester, against a Rapids team who could include Moeen Ali .
Paul Farbrace, who will be England's Coach during the Royal London one-day series against New Zealand, said: It will be great for the competition. We've already seen some unbelievable performances - two great knocks from Sam Northeast for Kent last weekend, one of which meant that Chris Gayle's 150 for Somerset came in a losing cause.
I'm looking forward to watching the televised matches this weekend.
Also on Sunday, Yorkshire could include Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance in their side for the start of a home Championship fixture against Middlesex, helping to compensate for the loss of Root, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett to England.
Lyth and Ballance will also be available for a heavyweight Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge starting on June 22 which could be Broad's second four-day appearance for his county as following his omission from England's one-day squad he can also make the trip to Taunton to face Somerset the previous week.
England Test captain Alastair Cook is due to play for Essex at home to Derbyshire from June 14 - when he will aim to repeat the century he scored against the Peakites at Chelmsford last season in his first match as a father - and also against Gloucestershire in Bristol the following week to prepare for the Ashes challenges of the second half of the summer
The England management have also set up the possibility of an individual showdown between Moeen and Ian Bell in the Worcestershire-Warwickshire derby which starts at New Road on June 14.
James Anderson and Mark Wood are the only two England players who have not been released for specific matches at this stage.
Wood will take a break before linking up with the one-day squad next week, and England want Anderson to have a longer breather before they finalise his pre-Ashes schedule later in the month.
Farbrace added: It is always a difficult balance to strike after the demands of back-to-back Tests, with a one-day series coming up so quickly.
But we are keen for our players to get back to their counties whenever it's possible, as we know they enjoy making a contribution for their counties, and we want the county supporters to have the chance to see them in the flesh