SOMERSET duo Lewis Gregory and Jamie Overton have been left unsold in the 2019 IPL auction.

Both put their names forward at a base price of 40 lakhs (around £45,000) but none of the eight franchises decided to place a bid for either one of the pair.

Rajasthan Royals, for whom former Somerset seamer Steffan Jones is the bowling coach, were reported to have an interest in Gregory but that didn't materialise into a formal offer.

Jones will be joined in the Royals entourage by former Somerset star Jos Buttler, who was retained by the franchise in November along with England teammate Ben Stokes.

Just five English players were snapped up in the auction.

Sam Curran became the most expensive overseas player as he was bought by King's XI Punjab for £800,000, and his England Test teammate Jonny Bairstow signed for Sunrisers Hyderabad for £240,000.

Kolkata Knight Riders signed both Kent batsman Joe Denly (£110,000) and Nottinghamshire seamer Harry Gurney (£80,000), while Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone (£50,000) will join Stokes and Buttler at the Royals.

In brighter news for Gregory and Overton, both have today been named in the England Lions squads for the tour of India in the New Year - click here for more.