England all-rounder Jamie Overton has announced he is putting his red-ball career on hold – ruling himself out of a spot on this winter’s Ashes tour.
The pace bowler featured in England’s last Test of the summer against India last month and had a strong chance of featuring in the squad for the hotly-anticipated trip to Australia despite a mixed outing at the Kia Oval.
The selectors will now need to look elsewhere after he shared his decision to focus exclusively on white-ball opportunities, and Durham’s Matthew Potts could find himself moving back up the pecking order after being overlooked this year.
While Overton stopped short of declaring his retirement from first-class cricket, at the age of 31 it looks unlikely that he will be back in the Test reckoning. His appearance against India was just his second cap, coming three years after his first and he does not currently have a central contract with the ECB.
Overton, who is part of the England ODI squad that takes on South Africa at Headingley on Tuesday, posted on X: “After a great deal of thought I have decided to take an indefinite break from red-ball cricket.
“At this stage of my career, with the demands of cricket across a 12-month calendar, it’s no longer possible to commit fully to all formats at every level, both physically and mentally.”
Another up and coming quick who may benefit from Overton’s self-imposed hiatus is Hampshire’s Sonny Baker. Earmarked earlier this year as one to watch by the England hierarchy, he enjoyed some standout moments in the Hundred including a hat-trick for Manchester Originals against Northern Superchargers.
He has been handed a debut in Tuesday’s Metro Bank Series opener against the Proteas, joining Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse in the pace attack.
“He’s been awesome in the Hundred, we’ve seen him bowl at some of the best batters in the world and he’s had them on toast,” England captain Harry Brook enthused.
“It’s been really good to see. He bowls at high pace and can swing it both ways with exceptional death skills as well. Quite a lot of people are excited to see where he goes.
“It looks like he has quite a lot about him.”
