It’s Joe Root vs Stuart Broad in County Championship opener
England Test captain Joe Root and his teammate Stuart Broad are set to square off in the opening round of County Championship when Nottinghamshire host Yorkshire from April 5 at Trent Bridge.
Both Root and Broad will also be available for the second-round fixtures too.
A host of international stars have been made available for their respective counties by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the opening few rounds of 2019 season.
James Anderson will take field for Lancashire against Middlesex in their first match that gets underway from April 11.
Surrey, the current champions, will have the services of Rory Burns, Ben Foakes and Tom Curran for the first two matches and will also be available for the warm-up against MCC XI, captained by Broad, in a four-day match in Dubai beginning March 24.
However, several stars including Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Sam Billings and David Willey will be absent at the start of the latest season due to their Indian Premier League commitments.
Complete list of England international player’s availability
Joe Root (Yorkshire) – County Championship Division One: vs Nottinghamshire, vs Hampshire
James Anderson (Lancashire) – County Championship Division Two: v Middlesex and Lancashire
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire) – County Championship Division One: vs Yorkshire, vs Yorkshire
Keaton Jennings (Lancashire) – County Championship Division Two: v Middlesex ; One-Day Cup matches vs Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Durham
Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) – County Championship Division Two: vs Northamptonshire, vs Lancashire; One-Day Cup vs Essex, vs Gloucestershire, Hampshire, vs Surrey
Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire) – One-Day Cup vs Lancashire, vs Derbyshire, vs Warwickshire, vs Leicestershire
Jack Leach (Somerset) – County Championship Division One: vs Kent, vs Nottinghamshire; One-Day Cup: vs Kent, vs Glamorgan, vs Sussex, vs Essex, vs Gloucestershire
Mark Wood (Durham) – County Championship Division Two matches against Derbyshire and Sussex; One-Day Cup matches against Northamptonshire and Worcestershire
Liam Plunkett and Jason Roy (Surrey – subject to fitness): English MCC University Match: vs Durham MCCU; County Championship Division One: vs Essex; One-Day Cup: vs Gloucestershire, vs Sussex, vs Essex, vs Middlesex
Chris Jordan (Sussex) – County Championship Division Two: vs Leicestershire, vs Durham; One-Day Cup vs Surrey, vs Kent, vs Somerset
Chris Woakes & Olly Stone (Warwickshire – subject to fitness): County Championship Division One: vs Kent; One-Day Cup: vs Yorkshire, vs Northamptonshire, vs Nottinghamshire, vs Durham
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire – subject to fitness): One-Day Cup: vs Leicestershire, vs Warwickshire, vs Lancashire, vs Derbyshire
Rory Burns, Tom Curran and Ben Foakes (Surrey): Champion County Match: vs MCC XI; English MCC University Match: vs Durham MCCU; County Championship Division One: vs Essex; One-Day Cup: vs Gloucestershire vs Sussex, vs Essex, vs Middlesex