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David Willey, who is amongst the fringe players for England in white-ball cricket, has opened up about declining an IPL offer to continue leading Yorkshire in the Vitality T20 Blast.
Willey’s decision was forced due to the overlapping schedules of the two marquee domestic T20 tournaments.
The knockout stage of the Vitality T20 Blast is scheduled to commence on September 20, which marks Week 1 of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Moreover, due to the existing norms for observing the quarantine period upon arrival in the UAE, Willey was slated to miss out on a large chunk of action in IPL 2020.
“I had an offer. The problem is there’s a crossover with the Blast and the IPL, so I said I’m available from when the Blast finishes. I want to captain Yorkshire in the Blast and see that through, so if there’s an opportunity that comes after that (IPL), great. There may still be opportunities which I’m open to,” Willey told the Yorkshire Post.
Willey had been part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the previous editions of the IPL. He last featured in the England outfit, during the ICC ODI Super League encounter against Ireland, back in August.
In the opening game of the three-match ODI series against the Irish, Willey ended up with figures of 5/30 at Southampton.
During the high-scoring encounter in the final game of the series, Willey also displayed his batting prowess with an impressive 51.
‘Not willing to spend a long time away from family’: Willey
“Again, there’s been a bit of interest there. But the issue for me there will be family travel. I’m not willing to spend that long away from my family,” he added.
“If that changes, I’ll bite someone’s hand off to get over and play, play any of the franchise cricket really, but it’s just weighing everything up,” Willey concluded.
