Counties get England player boost

Vaughan cannot play for Yorkshire in the Friends Provident Trophy semi-final

A number of England players will be allowed to play for their counties ahead of the South Africa Test series.

Test captain Michael Vaughan and one-day skipper Paul Collingwood have been cleared to play in the next round of County Championship matches.

Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah and Luke Wright will also take part in the games which start on Sunday.

But Kevin Pietersen and wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose will be rested.

Ahead of the Test series opener at Lord's on 10 July, bowlers James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad have not been made available to their counties.

However, all-rounder Graeme Swann will be able to play for Nottinghamshire against Hampshire if he has recovered from an elbow injury.

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Vaughan and Collingwood will be unavailable for their counties' respective Friends Provident Trophy semi-finals next week but Cook and Bopara can both play for Essex against Yorkshire in the competition.

Middlesex batsman Shah is also eligible for the tour match against South Africa starting on Friday.