Steelbacks skipper David Willey returns to Indian Premier League as he joins Lucknow Super Giants

Willey, who has spent the past two seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore, joins fellow England international Mark Wood at Lucknow, as well as Australians Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Turner, South African Quinton de Kock and West Indies pair Nicholas Pooran and Kyle Mayers and Afghanistan's Naveen-ul-Haq.

Indian internationals in the 25-man Lucknow squad include the likes of KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi and Shivam Mavi.

The team, which has only been in existence since 2022, is coached by former Australian opening batter and head coach Justin Langer.

Willey also previously played in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings.

The Northants man posted a video message to the Lucknow supporters on X, saying: "Hi everyone at Lucknow.

"I am delighted to be picked in this year's auction, and I think we have got a great squad put together by the staff and management.

"So I am looking forward to getting there, getting stuck in and contributing everything I can for the IPL.

"I am looking forward to seeing you all soon."

The IPL is due to start at the end of March, and run through until the final weekend in May, meaning that there is a possibility Willey could miss the start of the Steelbacks' Vitality Blast campaign.

That would mean Lucknow qualifying for the final stages of the IPL, and they have reached the play-off stages in the past two seasons.

The Blast is due to start on Thursday, May 30, with the Steelbacks hosting Derbyshire Falcons at the County Ground.

They then also play Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge on May 31 and entertain Yorkshire Vikings on Sunday, June 2.

His IPL call also rules out any chance of Willey being available to feature in the opening rounds of the County Championship campaign, which starts at the beginning of April.

Willey, who has been training with his Northants team-mates for the past month, will also be heading off to Pakistan in the new year after he was last week selected by the Multan Sultans to play in the Pakistan Super League, having previously played for them in 2022.

The PSL is scheduled to run from mid-February to mid-March, and Willey will be joined at Multan by former England team-mates Reece Topley, Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan, as well as the likes of Reeza Hendricks of South Africa, and Pakistan star Mohammad Rizwan.

Willey returned to Northants from Yorkshire on a four year deal last winter, and was an ever present in the 2023 Blast campaign, having replaced Josh Cobb as captain two weeks before the start of the tournament.

He retired from international cricket at the end of England's unsuccessful defence of their ODI World Cup crown in India in November.

New Northants recruit George Scrimshaw, who made his England ODI debut at the end of last summer, was also hoping to get a deal to play in the IPL, but was overlooked at the auction.

Willey will be joined in the IPL by another County player though, as Prithvi Shaw has been retained by Delhi Capitals.

India batter Shaw is due to return to the County Ground in mid-summer to play in the County Championship as well as the Metro Bank One Day Cup.