Eight players join the list
England have handed full central contracts to eight players who were not on the list last year, and the headline name is a bowler who has never played for the senior side. Henry Crocombe, the Sussex seamer heading to Surrey, signed for two years, the first England player to get a multi-year contract before an international appearance. He took back-to-back hat-tricks for Sussex and finished with 40 Championship wickets at 23.52. A debut could come in the ODI tri-series in Pakistan.
Jordan Cox and Sonny Baker also run to September 30, 2028, with Baker upgraded from a one-year deal. Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Tom Banton, Sam Cook and Matthew Fisher are in too, along with Ollie Robinson, who held contracts in 2022 and 2023. Robinson has 28 Test wickets at an average under 10. Cox made fifties in all three Tests against Pakistan, and Lawrence added three of his own in that 3-0 win.
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Who stays, who goes
Ollie Pope and Shoaib Bashir were renewed for a year even though neither is in the Test XI. Pope was dropped after the third Ashes Test and returned for the Pakistan series. Bashir played two Tests in the past year, both against New Zealand in June. Zak Crawley’s expiring deal was not extended, and Luke Wood is also off the list, along with the retired Ben Stokes and Mark Wood.
Brydon Carse stays contracted to September 2027, but he has not played for England since an August incident outside a Derby nightclub. He was briefly arrested and later charged by the Cricket Regulator with breaching conduct regulations. Managing director Rob Key said he needs to get his house in order before he can play again.
Thirty-nine players are now contracted, and nine more sit on development deals. Bethell is expected back for the three-Test series in South Africa from December 17, Stephen Fleming’s first assignment as head coach, so one of Cox, Gay or Lawrence may miss out. The tri-series in Pakistan opens with England against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on October 20.
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