• Strauss and Bell to go back to Middlesex and Warwickshire
• England's bowlers given rest ahead of summer Tests
Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell will spend unusually long spells in county cricket over the next month to give them the chance to regain form and confidence ahead of the summer's Test series against West Indies and South Africa.
Whereas the bowlers who performed so well for England throughout the winter such as James Anderson and Graeme Swann have been made unavailable to their counties until next month, and even the batsmen Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott have been given a break, Strauss and Bell have been cleared to play three Championship fixtures starting next week.
Strauss, who responded to the growing discussion over his position as captain by grafting to an important half century in the second Test win in Sri Lanka last week, has been made available for Middlesex's game against Durham at Lord's next week and Worcestershire.
Bell, who endured an especially lean winter in both Sri Lanka and the 3-0 defeat by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, can play for Warwickshire against Lancashire in Liverpool next week, then against Sussex correctat Hove and at home to Durham, in addition to a couple of 40-over matches.
Trott, who scored a century in Sri Lanka, has been given an extra week off, and Cook is not available for Essex until 2 May, when they begin a home match against Kent.
Kevin Pietersen will be required home from his Indian Premier League commitments with the Delhi Daredevils to make a single Championship appearance for Surrey at Worcestershire from 9 May, but the fact that England have not called Eoin Morgan home from India until six days later confirms that he will not be considered for the first Test against West Indies at Lord's.
Four of the squad who have just returned from Sri Lanka have been cleared to play in the next round of Championship matches that begin on Thursday – Samit Patel for Nottinghamshire at Durham, where he will be promoted to number four in the order to give him a better chance to impress the selectors, Monty Panesar for Sussex at Lancashire, James Tredwell for Kent in Northampton and Steven Davies for Surrey at Middlesex.
Ravi Bopara would be a fifth but Essex do not have a game until they travel to Headingley next week to face a Yorkshire team who will be able to include Tim Bresnan.
The appearance of so many England players should provide a significant boost to the profile of the Championship, with the possibility that Strauss could face a Nottinghamshire team including Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Patel at Trent Bridge from 9 May. Broad has been forced to give up his lucrative IPL contract with Kings XI Punjab for the second consecutive year after England's medical team told him to stay at home to continue his rehabilitation from the calf strain he suffered in Sri Lanka.
Swann will also line up against Anderson when Notts face Lancashire in the first Championship match on the realigned square at Old Trafford from 2 May – the only match for which Anderson has been released as the England selectors understandably wrap their bowling spearhead in cotton wool.
