Big Bash League contracts for Root and Buttler

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England’s Joe Root and Jos Buttler will play for the Sydney Thunder in the 2018-19 edition of Australia’s Big Bash League.

Root and Buttler will be available for seven matches, before joining England’s tour to the West Indies in January.

The hard-hitting Buttler has represented several Twenty20 franchises, including the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League – and Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan in the Indian Premier League.

This will be Root’s first stint in the BBL. He was part of the IPL player auction earlier this year, but didn’t gain a contract.

“I was disappointed,” he said at the time. “The reason I wanted to go out there was to play more Twenty20 cricket, it wasn’t to go and earn as much money as possible. I’m not in that position.

“For me, I wasn’t going to fit into any one of those IPL teams. There’s not really much you can do. It was disappointing but it’s also very understandable. Sides have a clear idea of what they want their makeup of their team to look like and they build around that.

“You’ve just got to get on with the rest of the cricket I can play. It gives me a really good period to make sure everything is set for the start of the Test season back at home but it would have been really nice to have had the experience and everything that the IPL brings to the table.”

The Sydney Thunder finished in sixth position in the 2017-18 Big Bash League, after just four wins in 10 attempts. The Melbourne Renegades are the reigning champions, having beaten the Bribane Heat in the final.

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