Fast bowler James Pattinson and opener Marcus Harris were among Cricket Australia’s nationally contracted players announced Monday, but there was no room for Cameron Bancroft, Peter Siddle, or Marnus Labuschagne.
The list of 20 men’s players offered deals for the 2019-2020 season on the basis of their performances over the past 12 months also included, as expected, Steve Smith and David Warner despite neither padding up during the period.
They were omitted last year after being banned over the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Bancroft, who was suspended for nine months over the same incident, missed out.
“We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a versatile group of players who can represent Australia across all three formats over the contract period,” said chief selector Trevor Hohns.
“Our key criteria focused on selecting a pool of players who are going to help us in our ambition to win the upcoming World Cup and Ashes series in England, and who can also play the various formats over the course of the Australian summer.”
Matt Renshaw, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Andrew Tye, Mitchell Marsh and Ashton Agar, who previously had contracts, did not have them renewed.
Contracted list: Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Alex Carey, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
