Cricket Australia announces central contract list for 2021-22 season

Cricket Australia has released the men’s contract list for 2021-21, which has quite a few notable omissions and inclusions. The board has also reduced the list from 20 to 17 this year, with the names of former Test vice-captain Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, and Joe Burns missing.

Further, all-rounder Marcus Stoinis did not receive the Cricket Australia (CA) contract either, despite his recall to Australia’s ODI and T20I teams. CA has also given openers Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris a miss, but the most notable exclusion remains to be that of Head, who has held a CA contract since 2017, the year before he played the first Test to date, while Burns, Marsh and Wade were all returned to the national contract list last year.

It was revealed by Coach Justin Langer that the national team’s contract list was supposed to be made public yesterday, although not being able to establish contact with one of the contracted players meant that it was held back and released today (23^rd April, 2021) instead.

The ones missing out on the initial contract list can be upgraded during the year by earning selection in national teams. Players need to accrue 12 upgrade points to earn a contract, with Tests worth five points, ODIs two points and T20s one point.

Cricket Australia wishes to increase competitive tension: Justin Langer

Conveying the reason behind reducing the number of contracted players from 20 to 17, Langer stated that CA wishes to increase competitive tension among top-level players, a message that was reiterated by national selection panel (NSP) chair Trevor Hohns.

“Firstly, we have seen format specialisation become increasingly prevalent in recent seasons which, accordingly, has resulted in a broader group of players representing Australia, often beyond the initial list of contracted players at the start of each year.

“Secondly, we want to create an environment where players strive for national selection through consistent domestic performances and earn national contracts through consistent international performances.”, National selector Trevor Hohns said.

“There will continue to be opportunities and support for players outside this group to represent Australia and earn an upgrade to a central contract with strong performances throughout the year. But in naming these 17 players, we believe we have a strong core group which cover all forms of the game for the 12 months ahead.”

“There is a considerable amount of international cricket to be played across all formats in the next 12 months and the door to national selection is never closed to players outside this list,” Hohns said.

“The NSP continues to hold Joe Burns, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis in high regard and expect that they, and many others across Australian Cricket, will continue to make strong cases for national selection next season.

“Competition for spots has always been a hallmark of strong Australian cricket teams and we are happy with the depth across all our disciplines entering next season. In the fast bowling ranks, Jhye Richardson is a player we believe has a big future across multiple formats and his return to the game has been strong.”

Cameron Green earns a central contract

All-rounder Cameron Green, who made an impressive Test debut against India and scored 236 runs from four Tests followed by an Sheffield Shield season (922 runs with three centuries and at an average of 76.83), has earned a central contract. “Cameron is a player we believe will play an important role for Australian cricket after his impressive breakout summer,” Hohns said.

“His 84 in the second-innings against India at the SCG demonstrated excellent technique and resolve and we are confident his bowling will be impactful at international level.

“His domestic form was also outstanding, and we expect he will only get better with more international exposure.”

“We are equally impressed with and optimistic about the form of fellow quicks James Pattinson and Kane Richardson. Nathan Lyon took on a huge workload in red ball cricket this summer and bowled impressively throughout, while Alex Carey has been excellent with both bat and gloves for Australia in white ball cricket.

“We are also fortunate to have two outstanding captains in Tim Paine and Aaron Finch, and we look forward to them once again leading their respective teams with pride over the next 12 months.”, he said.

Cricket Australia men’s contract list 2021-22

Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Adam Zampa.