Yorkshire star ready to enter Caribbean T20 draft

Adil Rashid and Alex Hales have both made themselves available for the Caribbean Premier League draft, but their respective county duties are expected to take precedence over the franchise Twenty20 competition.
England's Joe Root and Ben StokesEngland's Joe Root and Ben Stokes
England's Joe Root and Ben Stokes

Rashid last week controversially announced he would feature for Yorkshire solely in the limited-overs formats this season while England team-mate Hales has signed a white-ball only deal with Nottinghamshire until the end of 2019.

The pair missed out on selection in the Indian Premier League auction recently, but have been given their counties’ blessing to put themselves forward for the CPL draft, which will be held in London next Thursday, March 1.

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The tournament will run from August 8 to September 16 and clashes with this year’s Vitality Blast, with the group stages concluding on August 17 while the quarter-finals will be held later in the month and Finals Day on September 15.

Outside of England obligations, it is understood Rashid will be available for Yorkshire for as long as they remain in the competition while defending champions Nottinghamshire are similarly keen to hang on to Hales.

Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket Mick Newell said: “Alex is entitled to enter the draft, but he certainly won’t be missing any Outlaws matches to compete in it.

“If we were to qualify from the group stages of the Blast, Alex would be available for the knockout matches to follow.

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“There is a chance he could head out to the Caribbean around the knockout stages, but that decision will come closer to the time.”

Hales amassed 507 runs at an incredible strike-rate of 204.43 as Nottinghamshire went all the way in last year’s domestic T20 competition while he remains the only Englishman to go into three figures in a T20 international.

The English duo join the likes of Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir, South African batsman Hashim Amla and Australia trio Usman Khawaja, D’Arcy Short and Chris Lynn in the draft, while all the West Indies’ internationals can feature in the tournament.