Sam Curran will miss Season 5 of the DP World International League T20.
The England all-rounder has been one of the outstanding players in the short history of the UAE’s franchise competition.
He played a central role in Desert Vipers' winning the title for the first time last season.
However, he has opted not to return for the next campaign, likely as he plots a return to the England setup after the retirement of Ben Stokes.
Curran was mentioned last week by England’s chief selector, Marcus North, as being under consideration for a recall after the departure of Stokes.
He missed out on a place in their squad for the first Test against Pakistan, starting next week, because of injury.
But North said Curran should be a factor in the planning for England’s future. The composition of England’s side will have to be altered because of the loss of Stokes’ all-round capabilities.
Curran has many supporters because of his skills as a left-arm seamer and left-handed batter.
England are due to play a limited-overs series in Australia in November and December, followed by a Test series in South Africa later that month. Season 5 of the ILT20 is due to take place from November 22 to December 20.
“Sam had decided that he wanted a break this year during that window,” Tom Moody, the Vipers director of cricket, said.
“He’s obviously got a huge workload of cricket on his plate. He is also starting to play more for England again.
“He had a period of time where he was out of the England white-ball setup. There has been talk around him being reintroduced into the Test side as well, so I think he's looking just to manage his workload.
“I don't think it's the end of his association with us in the future, but certainly this year he's decided to step away.”
England selection could affect the Vipers’ title defence in another way, too.
The six franchises have only been able to recruit four players outside of the ILT20 auction, which will take place on October 1.
The Vipers went for Andries Gous, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Shimron Hetmyer and Dan Lawrence as their four pre-auction signings.
Lawrence has also returned to the England reckoning. He is part of the Test squad for the start of the series against Pakistan.
“First and foremost, we're absolutely thrilled that he's found himself back in England colours,” Moody said.
“He had a brief taste of it a couple of years ago in a different role at the top of the order, which is probably not where you would see him long-term as a Test cricketer.
“Certainly, in the middle order, he's someone that you'd see have a long and very effective future.”
Moody acknowledged that Lawrence’s recall for England might affect his availability for the Vipers.
“We're thrilled that he's got that opportunity; it's something that we hadn't considered when we were building our squad,” Moody said.
“The timing of his inclusion, and whether he is available for part, or all, or none of the ILT20 this year, is something that we need to be nimble enough to react accordingly.
“Replacing a player, if that's the case, of his calibre is never easy. [But] something that we are very proud of at the Desert Vipers is that we love to share the journey with players.
“[We want to see them] not only play well for us, but go on to bigger and better things. And, for him, playing for his country is pretty special.”
