ANDREW GALE is relishing the prospect of opening the batting with Yorkshire’s new signing Aaron Finch in this summer’s NatWest Blast T20.

The White Rose captain is set to form an exciting opening partnership with the powerful Australian as the county bid to bounce back from last season’s disappointing last place finished in the North Division.

Yorkshire whet the appetite by reaching the final of the 2012 competition, but they only won two out ten matches last summer.

Finch is currently the world record holder for the highest international Twenty20 score having smashed 156 against England at Southampton last August, an innings which included 14 sixes. His signing is a real statement of intent.

Getting off to a flyer in the six overs of powerplay is crucial to any side’s chances of Twenty20 success, and an opening partnership of Gale and Finch is a mouthwatering prospect.

“The way Aaron played out in Australia and that knock he played at Southampton last year, I’ll just be getting off strike and down to the other end to watch him bat!” said Gale.

“I watched him in the Big Bash, and the grounds they play on over there are a lot bigger than our grounds.

“He wasn’t just clearing the ropes, he was hitting them into the upper tier and 15 rows back. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Quite when Gale and Finch will begin their alliance at the top of Yorkshire’s order is unclear.

Finch will only arrive at Headingley after his Indian Premier League commitments with the Sunrisers Hyderabad team, and Yorkshire are hoping he will be available to debut in their opening fixture against Northamptonshire on May 16.

But yesterday IPL bosses revealed that they plan to play their competition in a window between April 9 and June 3.

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen will be the only England-qualified cricketer at this year’s IPL after ten other hopefuls from this country failed to attract a bid at auction.

Pietersen, free to play a full IPL campaign for the first time, was retained for £880,000 by Delhi Daredevils on day one of the set-piece spending spree.

But none of the eight franchises showed any interest in the best of the rest England has to offer.

Even short-format specialists Luke Wright and Alex Hales were unsold two days running. The latter, however – like his Nottinghamshire colleague Samit Patel – might have paid the price for the deal struck with his county to ensure his IPL availability only if his maximum reserve was matched.

England players’ evident unpopularity at the IPL contrasts with that of those from other countries, with 50 of the 154 sold over the last two days hailing from outside India.

Among them were Australians Mitchell Johnson and David Warner, and their compatriots Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins.

While almost a team’s worth of England cricketers nationwide will be in attendance for their counties after all for the start of the domestic season, Essex’s Holland allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate will be in India.

The diminutive big-hitter will once again be in the Kolkata Knight Riders squad, and will earn just over £110,000 for the privilege.

  • England’s dual Ashes-winning women’s team is to become fully professional thanks to a national funding boost made available following an overhaul of administration in world cricket.

The ECB has announced women’s cricket and development of the sport in ‘‘inner city areas’’ will both receive extra investment.

Charlotte Edwards’ team, who won the Ashes in Australia this winter and at home last summer too, will be able to play as full-time professionals for the first time.

ECB chairman Giles Clarke hopes they will become the ‘‘best-paid sportswomen’’ in this country; Edwards herself tweeted her delight at a day she never thought would come during her career.