In all the excitement of the first week of finals footy in both the AFL and NRL, Roar cricket fans could be forgiven for missing an announcement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) about which players have been offered contracts for the coming 12 months.
The ECB uses a system quite different from that used by Cricket Australia. Players can be awarded a centralised contract for Tests only, for white-ball cricket only, for both Tests and white-ball cricket and a fourth category termed an ‘increment contract’.
This doesn’t mean players can’t swap between formats, but they are more likely to feature in English teams under the contracts they’ve been given.
(Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
The following contracts were issued last week:
Test and white-ball contracts
Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes.
Test contracts
James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope and Dom Sibley.
White-ball contracts
Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Curran, Eoin Morgan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy and Mark Wood.
Incremental contracts
Dom Bess, Chris Jordan, Jack Leach and Dawid Malan.
There’s an additional category termed ‘pace bowling development contract’, which I won’t discuss. The current recipients are Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton and Olly Stone.
There are a number of interesting points that can be inferred from where some of the names appear or even where they don’t appear.
In the first category there are the usual suspects: Stokes, Root, Buttler and Archer. But one name missing is Jonny Bairstow, who has been offered only a white-ball contract.
Bairstow didn’t figure in any of the Tests in the recent English summer and his batting form in the Tests he played last year seemed to have deserted him.
The question now is: where does he rate in terms of coming to Australia for next year’s Ashes series? Clearly the ECB seem to be pinning their hopes on Jos Buttler as their No. 1 Test keeper, but is Bairstow or Ben Foakes the understudy?
There are a few interesting names in the next category: Test only contracts. Bear in mind these contracts last 12 months from 1 October each year.
(Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Along with Woakes and Stokes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Sam Curran are all in this category, which would suggest these guys are at the forefront of the ECB’s thinking when it comes to England’s attack for the Ashes.
There’d been talk of Anderson retiring, and even Stuart Broad admitted he thought about giving up Test cricket after being dropped for the first West Indies Test. It now seems they’ll be expected to keep going for another 12 months and probably should be considered certainties to tour Australia barring injury.
On the other side of the coin Joe Denly’s international career appears over, with his name not appearing on any list. Zac Crawley seems certain to hold down the No. 3 batting spot, and at 34 and with a Test average in the 20s Denly might score the odd ODI or T20 but would be unlikely to come back into Test side.
There has to be a huge concern in English cricket that no spinner rates a full Test contract.
Both Dom Bess and Jack Leach have each been given incremental contracts, which appears to suggest the English selectors aren’t sure which of the two will be their preferred Test spinner. It also suggests the ECB isn’t sure whether either is good enough to play for England on a regular basis.
The Ashes are still more than a year away but these contracts are a strong indicator about who is both likely and not likely to make that tour. Obviously much can happen between now and then, but these are the players Justin Langer and Tim Paine will be focusing on over the coming months if we’re to retain the Ashes.
For information, the following players have a current contract with Cricket Australia: 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, Dave Warner and Adam Zampa.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Ah the Australian ribbing has already begun! :laughing:
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Cheers Arnab. I was also being a bit cheeky and commenting that you were the only one on here to talk about England's bowling options by using names and, even better stats, instead of just saying 'they've got no replacements' without going into detail and not understanding what's happening in English cricket. So I appreciate both your comments there Arnab - helped with my knowledge too (even as an England supporter, I miss a few things). Cheers.
Gee
Roar Rookie
Great news if Anderson & Broad are still around for the next Ashes. 5-0 looking good if those two duds perform like they usually do in Aus.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
I like the look of Parkinson as well but Virdi was part of Surrey winning the championship in 2018. Parkinson hasn't been part of a winning side in county championship for lancashire as of yet
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
That's all right with me, I learned something from the conversation.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
The ECB wins out. Happened this summer. No time for ugliness.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Whereas I would be absolutely over the moon with £700,000 p.a. for playing Test cricket. Even if that's reduced to £500,000 p.a. due to Covid, that's still a very comfortable income, still an income that most of us can only dream of! But like you say about the cricketing nations who are more strapped for cash, to earn millions having grown up with very little would be life changing. I hope that not all kids are led astray into the T20 revolution and there's plenty who grow up as traditionalists, like myself.
Paul
Roar Guru
I might answer your question by writing an article Dexter. Thanks for the idea. I'll give you credit when pen the piece! :happy:
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
If that sort of money was dangled in front of me I'd play. A couple of years of that and me and my family would be set for life. Anything else I earned from test cricket would go into the category of bonus money really. .. I reckon that's a big problem for everyone but especially those nations whose boards are a bit strapped for cash. Kids will be training from day one for T20 because that's where all the money is. Thoughts of becoming a test player could be well down the list.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Paul, I would have appreciated it if you had said all that in the first place (unless I've missed that somehow) but it is what it is.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
Yes I agree. A small part of me thinks he is a legend and would have prospered in any case, but I'm also a realist. The bigger question is "how do we get quality spin bowling into test cricket"???
Paul
Roar Guru
I’m guessing not, Dexter. The proliferation of white ball cricket has impacted ( or infected) all parts of the game, often with detrimental results. If Warne was just coming into first class cricket now, I think he would have had to make a decision, just as he advocates for Zampa, Pope etc to do, about being either a short form bowler or a Test bowler. We both know he loves a quid, so I think he probably would have developed into a fine white ball. spinner, but been pretty ordinary at Tests. Remember too, spinners are not given much of ago in Shield cricket these days, with the proliferation of average to exceptional fast bowlers every State seems to have. Warne would have had more chances to strut his stuff in white ball cricket, so more likely to have been picked for international T20’s and ODIs, IMO. A really good question.
Paul
Roar Guru
I didn't avoid it, I simply couldn't come up with any because I don't there are any who would fit the bill. As for stepping into Broad & Anderson's shoes, the next iteration of England's Test attack doesn't need to be clones of these guys but still have to perform exactly the same tasks, ie taking 20 wickets in a Test while keeping runs to a minimum. That's the sort of pressure any attack is under. The issue is whether others apart from these guys can do it?
Paul
Roar Guru
One of the issues I find interesting is the play between the County ( who pay these guys, except for those on full Test contracts) and the ECB. I wonder what happens if the ECB says they want a guy for County duty and the ECB says they want him on standby for some international fixture where he may or may not play? I could see that getting ugly if neither party is prepared to compromise but both are helping pay his wages. Of course, the same could happen in Australia.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Dexter, I am allowed to refuse to respond if I don't want to get into a certain bit of the debate. I think Paul is the best cricket writer on this website. I enjoy his articles and comments. But I still know a fair bit about English cricket. It is the team I support, after all.
AREH
Roar Guru
Yeah you worry that's for sure. As others may have touched on, sometimes the relentless desire to earn a test cap representing your country requires players to think beyond dollars. But there are many considerations here too.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
Josh, you could stand to benefit from some experience here. Instead of "refusing to respond" you could take some time to engage. In Australia, we had the whole "McGrath and Warne are gone, what shall we do" drama. So we have been through it. And I'm guessing that the author Paul has had more hot breakfasts than you, he probably knows quite a bit about English cricket. Take it as a learning experience.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
I agree totally about batting averages. Batting techniques have declined due to T20 for sure. My concern is around leg spin bowling. Would Warne, MacGill and others have been so great at FC and Test level if the easy dollar existed in T20 cricket when they were starting off? If no, then its something we need to address surely??
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Names, stats, explanations - thank you, Arnab, for a detailed comment.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Not too cynical at all DB because that's the sad reality of the cricketing world these days. That's why players are complaining of burnout whilst collecting their millions in the IPL. It's ridiculous. They're not just there for the experience of playing in the IPL!