Willey skips Lions tour to play in Big Bash

David Willey, the former Northamptonshire allrounder who made a strong impression in his first season as an England limited-overs player, has been given permission to miss the England Lions tour of the UAE in December and January in order to play for Perth Scorchers in Australia's Big Bash League.

In a significant departure from the ECB's previously rigid stance on overseas Twenty20 leagues, the England management have decided that Willey has more to learn from a full winter of competitive action, especially with the World Twenty20 looming in March and April next year.

Willey will be available to play the full Big Bash schedule for the Scorchers, starting on December 21 against Adelaide Strikers, and potentially running through to the final of the competition on January 24.

He has therefore been withdrawn from the England Lions Twenty20 squad to play against Pakistan A in the UAE in December, and will be unavailable to be selected for the Lions five-match one-day series against Pakistan A in January 2016.

"This is an excellent opportunity for David," said Andrew Strauss, England's director of cricket. "It will be the ideal preparation for him leading into the ICC World T20 in India next year - giving him the chance to focus on the T20 format for an extended period of time, and improve his skills accordingly."

"David Willey is an up-and-coming, very hungry, hard-working, young player who will hopefully provide with some power hitting in the middle overs, left-arm swing bowling," said Justin Langer, the coach of Perth Scorchers. "He's showed how well he can do that against the Aussies in the one-dayers a few months ago and he's a gun fielder. He's also renowned for his work ethic and character. It's a really good package."

England's recent upturn in fortunes in limited-overs cricket, following a desperate World Cup in which they failed to progress from the group stages, has owed much to a new relaxed attitude from the ECB, who have encouraged their players to seek opportunities to develop their skills and experience in the shorter formats, where previously Test cricket was considered to be the team's over-riding priority.

Eoin Morgan, England's limited-overs captain, missed the climax of Middlesex's County Championship season in order to rest up for the one-day series against Australia, having already led from the front during a thrilling series win over the beaten World Cup finalists, New Zealand, in June.

Willey, who will be joining Yorkshire next season, claimed 12 wickets in six ODIs after making his debut in Malahide against Ireland in May, and also played an important part in two T20 wins over Australia and New Zealand. He will be flying out to the UAE later this month to prepare for the limited-overs legs of England's series against Pakistan.

The notion of him missing the Lions tour to play in the Big Bash came after he was approached by the Scorchers, who fielded the former England opener Michael Carberry in their title-winning team last season. He was quickly given permission by England's coaches, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace, a move that could open the way for more players to take part in the Indian Premier League next spring.

Willey's replacement in the Lions squad will be named in due course - after the selectors have had an opportunity to see how the players perform during the England Performance Programme (EPP) training camps in Dubai and Potchefstroom in November.