Zak Crawley: Kent's England batter available for County Championship opener

Image source, Rex Features

Image caption, Zak Crawley could face Essex after returning from England's tour of the West Indies

England batter Zak Crawley will be available for the start of Kent's County Championship season.

The 24-year-old was part of the national team that lost the Test tour of West Indies 1-0 and has scored more than 1,000 runs for his country.

He will be available for selection for Kent's opening match against Essex next week.

Surrey will be able to call on Ollie Pope, Sam Curran and Rory Burns for their trip to Warwickshire.

Curran is still recovering from a back injury that has kept him out since October and will only be available for selection as a batter.

Dom Bess and Dawid Malan have been listed as available for Yorkshire when their season begins the following week against Gloucestershire.

England's players are centrally contracted to the national team and must be released to play for their counties.