Cricket Australia on Thursday announced the lists of centrally contracted players for the 2020-21 season. Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Burns are among the six new faces on CA’s list of centrally contracted men’s players for the next 12 months, while Usman Khawaja has missed out for the first time in five years.
Labuschagne and Burns have been added along with Ashton Agar, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh and Kane Richardson, players who all missed out on the initial list 12 months ago but earned upgrades during the year.
Khawaja, Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris and Shaun Marsh have all missed out having been part of the initial list last year.
Peter Siddle (retired) and Ashton Turner (omitted) have also been overlooked after they had earned upgrades during the year.
“As Mitch Marsh and Matthew Wade have proven, there are always plenty of opportunities for those who have missed out to be re-selected by performing consistently at the domestic level; and importantly to make the most of any opportunity that comes their way at the international level,” men’s national selector Trevor Hohns said.
A total of 20 men and 15 women were given the central contract for the 2020-21 season. While the men’s list has quite a few surprises, the inclusion of Tahlia McGrath in the women’s list has also baffled many.
Well, players who are not awarded contracts as part of the initial squad can earn upgrades throughout the year by accruing 12 upgrade points, with Tests worth five points, ODIs two points and T20s one point for men, and Tests worth four points and ODIs and T20s two each for women.
Here are the lists:
Australia men’s cricket contract list: Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, 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
Australia women’s cricket contract list: Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.
