WILLEY REVIVED BY INDIAN TONIC

DAVID WILLEY told Yorkshire to be more open-minded about the Indian Premier League after returning to England in stunning form for club and country.

He says he was threatened with having his county contract ended when he chose to fill in for Kedar Jadhav at the eventual IPL winners Chennai Super Kings.

With Liam Plunkett (right) replacing Kagiso Rabada at Delhi Daredevils, Yorkshire boss Martyn Moxon was fuming and looking to have a cut-off date for players to go to the tournament.

The episode left a sour taste, but the IPL rekindled Willey’s love for the game, and after signing a one-year extension with Yorkshire he hopes to reap the benefit of his experience. “You don’t get the chance to play in the biggest T20 competition in the world every day, so it was a no-brainer for me,” said Willey (left).

“I was threatened with them ripping up my contract which wasn’t great, but that’s all been resolved. “I think the landscape of the modern game is changing and counties should try to work with it rather than work against it and look at the longer-term picture.

“At the IPL I found my love for the game again. There’s no better way for young guys to learn than to play with experienced guys. Counties will benefit from it.”

In three Royal London wins, Willey scored a ton, 71 and took 11 wickets, and hit an ODI best 35 not out as England beat Australia.

K Boulter (Gbr) bt S Stosur (Aus) 7-6 6-1, (4) J Konta (Gbr) bt H Watson (Gbr) 6-4 7-6, (1) A Barty (Aus) bt Y Duan (Chn) 6-3 6-2 Swindon 48 Rye House 42 Egypt v Uruguay (1) Morocco v Iran (4), Portugal v Spain (7) England v South Africa (2)