Faulkner, Siddle, O'Keefe, Marsh axed from centrally contracted players list

Cricket Australia recently announced the full list of the centrally contracted player while some of the recognized names were omitted from the list for the 2017-18 season in the likes of star allrounder James Faulkner, Steve O’Keefe, Shaun Marsh and Peter Siddle.

Ashton Agar, Billy Stanlake and batting all-rounder Hilton Cartwright, who made his debut this January in the Sydney Test, earned a contract. Meanwhile, Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb have been included after their impressive display in the recent series against the Indians in subcontinental conditions.

Apart from Faulkner, who was also axed from the Champions Trophy squad, George Bailey, Joe Burns and Peter Nevill do not feature among the contracted players as well. They have been tagged as domestic players now. According to CA’s pay offer to the players, they do not contribute to the game’s financial returns.

The Chairman of Australia’s selection panel, Trevor Hohns, stated that the decision has been taken in the view of their upcoming major assignments against South Africa and Ashes.

“We have selected 20 players for this year’s contract list with a focus on players who we believe could play a part in an exciting 12 months of cricket, which includes the Ashes and an important away Test Series against South Africa.” announced Hohns, according to sayings by espncricinfo.com.

He further augmented, “Consideration has also been given to some players who we believe could potentially play in all three formats for Australia”

Cricket Australia’s contract offers for 2017-18

Male cricketers: Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Matthew Renshaw, Steven Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Female cricketers: Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell, Nicole Bolton, Lauren Cheatle, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington