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Dawson and Banton can play in T20 Finals Day
Hampshire’s Liam Dawson and Somerset’s Tom Banton will be released from England’s ODI squad to play in Saturday’s T20 Blast Finals Day. Their availability strengthens two of the four counties competing at Edgbaston, despite England’s final match against India taking place at Lord’s the following day.
Dawson played in England’s first ODI defeat to India, scoring a career-best 68, while Banton has not yet featured in the series. Somerset face Northamptonshire Steelbacks in the first semi-final at 11:00 BST, followed by Hampshire Hawks against Notts Outlaws at 14:30, with the final scheduled for 18:45.
In short
- Dawson and Banton can play in T20 Finals Day.
- England release them before Sunday’s ODI at Lord’s.
- Somerset and Hampshire both reach the semi-finals.
Explained simply
The T20 Blast Finals Day is the culmination of English county cricket's shortest format competition, held at a single venue where the top four teams play semi-finals and a final on the same day. It is one of the most popular events in the domestic cricket calendar, with matches compressed into a few hours for an exciting day of cricket. This year's Finals Day is on Saturday at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
England is currently playing a series of international matches against India, where players are required to be available for the national team. Normally, cricketers selected for England cannot leave the squad to play domestic cricket, even for major fixtures like the T20 Finals. However, some players have been released by England to participate in Finals Day, which demonstrates the importance of the domestic T20 competition.
Liam Dawson plays for Hampshire and Tom Banton plays for Somerset, both counties among the four reaching the Finals. Hampshire will face Nottinghamshire and Somerset will play Northamptonshire in Saturday's semi-finals, with the final scheduled for the evening. The availability of these England players strengthens both counties' chances in the weekend's competition.