James Anderson has made the shortlist for the Indian Premier League mega auction later this month but Jofra Archer is not among the 37 England-qualified players included.
Anderson is England’s record Test wicket-taker but has not played T20 cricket in a decade.
The 42-year-old – who retired from international duty this summer – is hoping to be picked up by an IPL franchise for the first time after an initial list of 1,574 names was whittled down to 574.
The auction will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25, with England’s Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone among 12 marquee players who will be up for grabs first.
Fast bowler Archer, however, has not made the shortlist, although it is not known whether that is his choice, if he was pulled out by England, or it was due to a lack of interest among the 10 teams.
The 29-year-old’s omission raises the prospect of him playing red-ball cricket for Sussex in the early part of the county season, which clashes with the IPL, as England look to prepare him for a return to Test cricket ahead of the India series next summer and Ashes the following winter.
Jofra Archer is only playing white-ball cricket at the moment but has been earmarked for a return to the England Test team
New rules stipulate that any player who previously featured in the IPL but is not involved in this auction for the 2025 season cannot play in the 2026 campaign either.
That will likely apply to England Test captain Ben Stokes, who has opted to skip the 2025 edition in order to manage his workload and fitness.
Joe Root, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are other notable England players not on the auction shortlist.
England’s Joe Root will not be part of the IPL auction
A total of 204 places will be filled across the 10 squads, with 70 available for overseas players.
The youngest player in the auction is 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, a left-handed batter who has already made five first-class appearances and figured in two youth Test matches for India A.
Forty-six players were retained by the 10 squads earlier this autumn but none of them English, with Buttler released after seven seasons with Rajasthan Royals.
It has not yet been yet announced when the 2025 season will take place, although the competition ran from March 22 to May 26 this year.
England-qualified players in IPL 2025 auction: Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Phil Salt, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Ben Duckett, James Vince, Moeen Ali, Will Jacks, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jordan Cox, Gus Atkinson, Tom Curran, Ollie Pope, Richard Gleeson, Reece Topley, Luke Wood, Leus du Plooy, Michael Pepper, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Olly Stone, Dan Worrall, Matthew Potts, John Turner, Dan Lawrence, James Anderson, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Benny Howell.