Jamie Overton puts red-ball career on hold and takes himself out of Ashes

England all-rounder Jamie Overton has taken himself out of contention for this winter’s Ashes series – placing his red-ball career on hold in a move that took even his limited-overs captain Harry Brook by surprise.

The pace bowler won his second Test cap against India last month and had a strong chance of featuring in the squad for the hotly-anticipated trip to Australia, despite a mixed outing at the Kia Oval.

But the selectors will now need to look elsewhere after he shared his decision to focus exclusively on white-ball opportunities.

Durham’s Matthew Potts could find himself moving back up the pecking order after being overlooked this year and the prospects of Hampshire’s Sonny Baker making a late play for a spot on the plane increased when he was handed a debut ahead of Overton in the first Metro Bank ODI against South Africa.

Baker will line-up alongside Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse in a three-strong pace attack at Headingley, and has the chance to continue his sharp upward trajectory with a strong showing against the Proteas.

Overton took to social media to announce his decision, posting: “After a great deal of thought I have decided to take an indefinite break from red-ball cricket.

“At this stage of my career, with the demands of cricket across a 12-month calendar, it’s no longer possible to commit fully to all formats at every level, both physically and mentally.”

While Overton stopped short of declaring his retirement from first-class cricket, at the age of 31 it looks unlikely that he will be back in the Test reckoning.

Reacting to the news, Brook said: “I’m a little bit shocked to be honest. I’d heard rumours but I hadn’t heard it from him until today.

“You’ve just got to respect the decision and he obviously doesn’t feel like he wants to play red-ball cricket at the minute and we can’t do anything about it. It’s unfortunate, I thought he did really well in that last Test match and it would have been nice to have him there in the Ashes.

“When he is fully fit and firing he bowls thunderbolts and he can whack it out of the park.”

Brook and head coach Brendon McCullum have preferred Baker to Overton for their series opener against South Africa, with the 22-year-old earning his platform after a breakout summer.

He was placed on an ECB development deal earlier this year, turned in some bright performances in the opening rounds of the Rothesay County Championship and marked his maiden international call-up by claiming a Hundred hat-trick for Manchester Originals against Brook’s Northern Superchargers.

“He’s been awesome in the Hundred, we’ve seen him bowl at some of the best batters in the world and he’s had them on toast,” Brook enthused.

“It’s been really good to see. He bowls at high pace and can swing it both ways with exceptional death skills as well. Quite a lot of people are excited to see where he goes. It looks like he has quite a lot about him.”

As for Baker’s prospects of slipping into the Ashes vacancy opened up by Overton, Brook demurred.

“I don’t select the red-ball side but he’s obviously done really well this summer. We’ll see how he goes tomorrow,” he added.

Two of England’s XI – Joe Root and Will Jacks – were unable to take part in the pre-match net session having featured in the Hundred final at Lord’s on Sunday night, while the tourists have just arrived from a series win in Australia.