Marnus Labuschagne’s outstanding recent form has earnt him a place on Cricket Australia’s player contract list, but there’s no such good news for Usman Khawaja and five other men’s players who’ve dropped off.
Labuschagne’s form in the Ashes and Australian summer season, which has him at no.3 on the ICC’s Test batting rankings, behind only Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, led to a coveted CA contract.
He’s joined by all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, white-ball spinner Ashton Agar, Test opener Joe Burns, limited-overs quick Kane Richardson, and middle-order batsman Matthew Wade as the men added to the contract list.
Usman Khawaja, a vital member of the World Cup side which made the semi-finals in England who scored 1085 runs at 49.31 in ODIs in 2019, did not keep his contract, nor did Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris and Shaun Marsh.
“There is a lot of cricket on the horizon across all three forms of the game including an ICC T20 World Cup, home Test summer against India, one-day matches and a tour of South Africa. For that reason, it’s important to find a strong balance and a list which covers all forms of the game,” selector Trevor Hohns said.
“With many of the squad crossing into all three formats it gives us the benefit of being able to add in specialists depending on the opposition and the conditions. The depth of this squad and the success of the past 12 months gives us that solid base.”
Meanwhile, fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck and Annabel Sutherland were both added to the women’s players list after receiving contract upgrades last season, while Tahlia McGrath was another new addition.
Both Nicole Bolton and Ellyse Villani dropped off, while Erin Burns and Molly Strano were unlucky to miss out on contracts, according to selector Shawn Flegler.
“Erin Burns was unlucky to miss out having been upgraded to a full contract this season but is highly rated by the selectors. She’s an adaptable player and is still in the mix for future selection,” Flegler said.
“Molly Strano also misses out despite being drafted into Australia’s World Cup squad and playing an important role, but she too is highly rated and will be looked at for future opportunities.”
Cricket Australia contracted men’s players
Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Cricket Australia contracted women’s players
Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Meg Lanning, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
A guy who averages over 60 isn't a great player? I'll accept that it needs time for him to be formally dubbed great but his style, temperament, and runs to date smack of greatness. Uzzie is a huge disappointment and couldn't have timed a slump worse for contract purposes. I really hope he gets an "I'll show 'em" mentality and scores loads this summer to come.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Agree completely. He shouldn't have been dropped in the Ashes. He was the closest we had to a top-order (1-3) player making runs and looking comfortable. If they'd kept him and dropped Warner after 3 we'd have won the Ashes I reckon
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
No, that's coach-speak.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Langer's as pure as the driven snow.
Simoc
Guest
Khawaja is a great batsman who doesn't deliver and Labushchagne isn't a great batsman who does deliver at a phenomenal rate. And he improves all the time. I like them both after Labs meteoric rise but I think Khawaja is on the way out or out already. It's hard for him to get back unless he can run off many consecutive centuries for Qld. The motivation may not be there at his age and stage.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
I think we've seen the end of Khawaja's international career. It's a shame - I really wanted him to succeed, but he never quite cemented his spot.
HR
Roar Rookie
Agree on all points. Marsh, like Watson before him, is a quality limited-overs all-rounder, and trying to shoehorn him into the test team then dropping him from all formats when it didn't work was dumb.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
The problem is that you can not play on Eden Park all of the time (thankfully, because NO cricket matches should ever be played on that rugby pitch).
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
If only there was a Jamie Cox in this time. Great player who never got a chance and would walk into the team right now.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
How sad that we dont have an opening bat in the country to partner Warner. (Burns and Khawaja are definitely not openers)
Tom
Selectors got a hard on for Stoin after that Eden park innings. They were so desperate for him to bat like that all the time and he never did again. Between 2017 and the the end of the 2019 WC Stoinis played 38 ODI's and Marsh only played 7, even though it was obvious to everyone that ODI's were the format that he actually deserved an extended run in at the time.
Brian
Guest
They might need to reconsider Bancroft once the saliva gets banned
jameswm
Roar Guru
Me.
HR
Roar Rookie
Yep - I'll never understand why he wasn't chosen ahead of Stoinis (who was woefully out of form - 14.5 at a strike rate of 77 and 7 wickets at 35 with an economy of 6.1, and he was injured in the latter stages of the tournament) or Coulter-Nile in the WC squad.
Nudge
Roar Rookie
Good point and not sure.
Nudge
Roar Rookie
No doubt if they were picking the team on current form he doesn’t get picked ahead of Burns. But if he finds form prior to the Indian series with a couple of tons in the lead up shield games I know who I would be picking
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
Ok for 20/20 and one dayers. Fair.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
In the shield this past season Khawaja played 7 games for 202 runs at 18.36, Burns 6 games 515 runs at 51.5. I know who I would pick, but I also would still like to see Ussie come good I think he has it in him somewhere.
Tom
Khawaja averaged 18 last shield season. Burns averaged 52. Khawaja has looked awful the last year. Hurts to say as a big fan of Usman, but I think he is finished.
JGK
Roar Guru
Was that before or after Uzzie failed time and again with the bat.