The lure of playing Test cricket for England has prompted Northamptonshire’s David Willey to seek pastures new and a host of Division One counties are set to compete for the highly-rated all-rounder’s services this winter after a £50,000 price tag was agreed between the player and his club.
The 25-year-old, who made his one-day international debut in May, is two seasons into a three-year deal at Wantage Road but had a verbal agreement with the club management that, should promotion from Division Two become unlikely, a release would be granted – provided the move represents a step up in cricketing terms and they are suitably remunerated.
After meetings with senior officials over the past fortnight, the figure for his early release is now understood to have been set and, with Northants fifth in the table and 67 points off second-placed Surrey, Willey can now expect to attract interest from top-flight counties looking to benefit from his desire to impress the England selectors.
The left-arm seamer Willey, who featured in the back-end of the memorable 3-2 ODI series win over New Zealand and the one-off Twenty20 that followed, has become convinced his Test ambitions will not be realised at Northants and that playing Division One cricket is now essential. Yorkshire, Durham and Middlesex are among those clubs known to have been monitoring Willey’s situation – others will join the queue – although key to any decision will be how any prospective employer views his playing role across the three formats, rather than the financial side of things.
Willey, who opens the batting for Northants in Twenty20 and starred in the final of their title-winning 2013 campaign with 60 from 27 balls and a hat-trick in Surrey’s failed reply, is keen to continue as a top-order player in white-ball cricket but is also craving extra responsibility in the first-class game.
While his all-round talents will make him highly coveted, Willey’s injury record will no doubt be factored into any offers. He returned to action on Friday night after a month out with ankle ligament damage and he has suffered back problems in the past.
“I’d like to see myself playing in all formats, I haven’t pigeon-holed myself as a one-day player at all,” Willey told Sky Sports, last month. “I know I need to make sure I put in the performances on the park and a long string of injuries for me has meant I’ve missed a lot of cricket over the past two years.”
His current campaign, until the injury suffered against Worcestershire at the end of June, has been impressive, however, with the left-handed batsman registering two centuries and 14 wickets in the County Championship. His early experiences with England have been positive too, with 11 wickets in his five limited- overs internationals.
Despite those returns, Willey claims England are yet to see the best of him. “I didn’t feel like I bowled to the best of my ability at times, but to pick up wickets in one-day cricket is always nice,” he told BBC Northampton recently.
“From a personal point of view I know there is more left for me to improve on.”
Adil Rashid, meanwhile, has been included in the Yorkshire squad to face Worcestershire this Sunday after withdrawing from contention for the second Ashes Test at Lord’s due to an injury on his spinning finger – a situation that is understood to have left the England management team disappointed.
The 27-year-old had been poised to make his Test debut this week as first-choice Moeen Ali struggled with a side strain, only to declare himself unable to bowl due to an abrasion on the ring finger of his right hand. Yorkshire are satisfied the injury will have cleared up in time for their Division One fixture at Scarborough.
