Root, Woakes and Moeen among England stars available for key county games

Just four days after losing the fourth Test to Pakistan at the Oval and sharing the spoils of the four-match series, a majority of England stars will be available to represent their respective counties in the quarterfinals of Royal London ODI Cup on August 17 and 18, and the final day of T20 Blast on August 20.

Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes will play in the 50-overs quarterfinal games for Worcestershire and Warwickshire respectively on Wednesday (August 17). A day later, Yorkshire will be boosted by the return of Joe Root, Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow as they take on Kent in their quarterfinal clash. They will also be available for the T20 blast semis and final on August 20.

Alex Hales, who had a forgettable Test series, will have a chance to quickly get over his poor form when he turns up for Nottinghamshire in the T20 competition, while Stuart Broad, the pacer who is looking to rekindle his limited-overs career, will also be available for team selection.

Alastair Cook, the England captain, will not feature for Essex as the team management has asked him to take a break.

Royal London ODI Cup quarterfinal fixtures:

August 17: Somerset v Worcestershire; Warwickshire v Essex

August 18: Northamptonshire v Surrey; Kent v Yorkshire

T20 Blast Final day fixtures (August 20):

Semifinal 1: Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire

Semifinal 2: Durham v Yorkshire

Final: Winner of SF 1 v Winner of SF 2