England’s Joe Root (left) and teammate Harry Brook. File
| Photo Credit: Ap
Seven players, including Harry Brook, were among 29 England cricketers who were awarded central contracts by the ECB for the first time, while premier all-rounder and Test captain Ben Stokes was given a one-year contract on Tuesday.
The deal pre-dated from October 1 this year also includes a first-of-its-kind multi-year contracts, which were offered to 18 players including Brook, Joe Root and recuperating pacer Jofra Archer.
Apart from Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue received the contract for the first time.
Pacer Carse on Monday was named as a replacement for injured Reece Topley in England’s squad for the on-going World Cup.
Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, Rob Key, said: “We are rewarding those players who we expect to make a significant impact over the coming years playing for England.
They will play a pivotal role in England’s efforts over the next few years.”
England’s new multi-year central contracts:
Three-year contract: Joe Root, Mark Wood, Harry Brook.
Two-year contract: Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jonathan Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
One-year contract: Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Robinson, Reece Topley.
Developmental contract: Matthew Fisher, Saqib Mahmood, John Turner.