The two all-rounders most pivotal to Australia's recent World Cup triumph will both be playing long-form cricket locally during the Ashes tour, with Glenn Maxwell to join James Faulkner in securing a deal to play in England's county championship.
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Maxwell, 26, is set to be the beneficiary of the hamstring surgery that will rule Aaron Finch out until at least the end of June. He already had a deal to play for Yorkshire in England's Twenty20 competition but that will now be complemented by playing four-day cricket for them, under reputed England-coach contender Jason Gillespie, until Finch is able to return.
Both Maxwell and Faulkner were cited by chairman of selectors Rod Marsh as being "desperately" in need of red-ball matches in his recent explanation of why neither was chosen for the Test tours of the West Indies and England. Their importance to Australia in limited-overs has curtailed their availability for the Sheffield Shield, to the extent Maxwell, who has a shield average of 42, batted only once in the competition last season.
"It's a tragedy that we can't play him in every game [for Australia] at the moment - but watch this space," Marsh said of Maxwell when announcing the squads five weeks ago.
Yorkshire's current overseas player, India top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, has been signed until the end of May, the period Finch was to be unavailable due to Indian Premier League duties.
Finch suffered a serious left-hamstring injury while playing for Mumbai. After an operation on April 21, Cricket Australia predicted the batsman would be sidelined for up to three months.
Even if Finch recovers within two months, as he intends to, it would allow Maxwell to play at least three county matches for Yorkshire during June.
The IPL runs until May 24 but the woes of Maxwell's team, last-placed Punjab, should mean he will be able to leave India on May 17, before the finals begin.
Maxwell has been selected in the four-day and one-day squads for Australia A's July tour of India. Because he has played much more in the subcontinent than in England - his only first-class match there was last June for Hampshire, in which he made 24 and 85 - selectors could decide he would benefit more from remaining with Yorkshire (should Finch still be unavailable) than joining Australia A.
Faulkner was recently announced as Lancashire's replacement for Peter Siddle, who will be part of Australia's Test squads for the West Indies and England.
Faulkner is due to be with Lancashire overlapping the entire Ashes series, which begins on July 8. The Tests will be followed by a limited-overs series, in which Faulkner and Maxwell are assured of selection.
While both thrived in the World Cup - Maxwell made the team of the tournament while Faulkner, who missed the first fortnight due to injury, was man of the match in the final - both have endured a lull after going almost directly to the IPL afterwards. Both have been dropped due to form - Faulkner by Rajasthan, Maxwell by Punjab - but have since regained their positions.
