Tuesday 3 April 2018 14:46, UK
Mark Stoneman and James Vince are among six England players who have been made available for the start of the Specsavers County Championship season.
Stoneman and Vince were both half-centurions in their final innings in New Zealand, the Surrey opener chipping in with 60 and Hampshire's Vince top-scoring with 76 in Christchurch.
That was Vince's first score of over 25 since the first Ashes Test in Brisbane in November, when he made his Test best score of 83, while Stoneman scored 161 runs in two games in New Zealand to be only two runs behind England's series leader Jonny Bairstow.
Vince is set to be the first player in action on April 13 with Hampshire getting their season underway at home to Lancashire, who could have unused England squad member Liam Livingstone in their XI.
England's management are yet to decide when Livingstone's team-mate James Anderson will be made available for the Red Rose and he will have a medical before any decision is made.
Stoneman and back-up wicketkeeper Ben Foakes could make their return on April 20 when Surrey start their season against Vince's Hampshire at the Kia Oval.
Somerset pair Craig Overton and Jack Leach, who made their Test debuts during the tours of Australia and New Zealand respectively, will also be available when the Cidermen play their first match on April 20 against Worcestershire.
The longest breaks have been afforded to England captain Joe Root and wicketkeeper Bairstow, who will not be available for Yorkshire until May 4 when they take on champions Essex.
Alastair Cook could feature in that match, which comes a week after his potential Essex return on April 27, the same day Nottinghamshire will have Stuart Broad available and Dawid Malan can return to action for Middlesex.
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) and Mark Wood (Durham) are all unavailable for the start of the season after signing Indian Premier League contracts.
