James Anderson and Stuart Broad available for County Championship third round

Saqib Mahmood has also been made available by the ECB and could feature alongside Anderson in Lancashire's home match against Gloucestershire

James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been made available by the ECB for the third round of LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures.

Both players featured for England in the Ashes but were not selected for the recent tour of the Caribbean.

Broad, who sat out Nottinghamshire’s opening two fixtures, made five red-ball appearances for the club in 2021, taking 23 wickets and could feature against Durham on April 21.

Anderson, meanwhile, missed Lancashire’s 10-wicket victory over Kent, with Tom Bailey, Hassan Ali, George Balderson, Danny Lamb and Luke Wood making up the seam attack. The 39-year-old took 11 wickets in four appearances for Lancashire last season.

^{Saqib Mahmood is also available [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

Anderson’s Lancashire teammate Saqib Mahmood has also been cleared to play by the ECB.

Mahmood made his Test debut against West Indies in March, taking six wickets at 22.83 in two appearances.

Both he and Anderson bowled during Lancashire’s training session on Tuesday (April 19) morning and are expected to feature against Gloucestershire at Emirates Old Trafford.

Ollie Robinson, however, is unavailable for Sussex due to a non-Covid-19 illness.

In other availability news, Sam Curran bowled in a match for the first time in over six months during Surrey’s second XI fixture against Hampshire as he continues his recovery from a stress fracture in his back sustained in the 2021 IPL.