Cricket Australia has announced the list of centrally contracted players for the 2020-21 season, with the likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Burns among 6 new faces to feature. Usman Khawaja, who has been a part of the national contracts for a long time, has missed out on a place for the first time in 5 years.
A total of 20 men and 15 women were given the central contract for the next 12 months. While the men’s list sprung quite a few surprises, the inclusion of Tahlia McGrath in the women’s list has also baffled a few. Here’s how the two lists look like:
CA men’s contract list: Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, 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
CA women’s contract list: Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Meg Lanning, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
Along with Labuschagne and Burns, the likes of Ashton Agar, Mitchell Marsh, Kane Richardson and Matthew Wade – who all weren’t a part of the central contracts last time around – have earned back a place for the 2020-21 season.
Other than Khawaja, some of the other big names to miss out on a contract as compared to last time are, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.
Cricket Australia’s men’s national selector Trevor Hohns admitted that some names were stiff to miss out.
“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 domestic level; and importantly to make the most of any opportunity that comes their way at international level,” Hohns said.
