ECB announces Central Contracts for 2020-21 season; Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood losses Test contract

On Wednesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the central contracts for England Men’s Test and White Ball cricket for 2020/21.

Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Dom Sibley have been awarded Test contracts for the first time while Tom Curran has progressed from Increment contract to a White Ball deal.

Joe Denly and Jonny Bairstow have been ignored from White Ball and Test central contract, respectively. Surprisingly, Mark Wood has also lost his red-ball deal.

Dom Bess, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan and Jack Leach have been named in the Increment contracts list. At the same time, Saqib Mahmood, Ollie Stone and Craig Overton have successfully retained their pace bowling development contracts.

I hope it leaves him very hungry: Ashley Giles on Bairstow losing Test contract

Ashley Giles, managing director of men’s cricket, spoke about the exclusion of Bairstow from the red-ball deal.

“He’s taken it as well as you could expect – and I mean that genuinely. It’s hard news to hear, especially as someone who’s played so much cricket for England across all forms. It’s a knock for him, I’m sure. But I think he truly still does have a desire to go on and play Test cricket,” said Giles as quoted by SkySports.

“I hope it leaves him very hungry to continue and have a really important part to play in the future of English Test cricket,” added Giles.

Here is how England contracts for 2020-21 looks like:

Test Central Contracts

James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

White Ball Central Contracts

Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Eoin Morgan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Increment Contracts

Dom Bess, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jack Leach.

Pace Bowling Development Contracts

Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Olly Stone.