Aussie Ryan And Eskinazi Could Also Play For England

Adam Collins looks at the sticky subject of overseas players seeking to cash in on their passports to play international cricket for England

Take a deep breath. This is not the most straightforward column you are going to happen upon this week. Instead of critiquing a cover drive or admonishing an administrator, let’s instead, inspired by Jofra Archer’s ascension, delve into the misty world of qualifying foreign-born players for England, where there is plenty more going on than meets the eye.

To begin, the boring bit. When a player registers with the ECB upon signing a county deal, their citizenship is reviewed. If they are not of British stock in isolation, it is explained to the recruit what would need to occur for them to be eligible for the Three Lions, per the regulations defining qualification section of the first-class rules and regulations.

In the first sentence of that document, it specifies that a player must be a British citizen; the relevant sub-point for those from elsewhere that they must have been a resident for the preceding three years. Also, the player needs to spend 210 days of those years in England or Wales.