Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, has made good on his pledge to give the limited-overs game greater standing by naming Eoin Morgan among 11 centrally contracted players for 2015-16 .
Morgan, who was last awarded a full international deal three years ago, is joined by a new addition in the Durham fast bowler Mark Wood, with Gary Ballance, Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes, all recipients 12 months ago, dropping down to the incremental contract level.
While Morgan is currently out of the Test reckoning, his elevation is fitting, given his status as one-day and Twenty20 captain, and follows Strauss’ assertion, on his appointment to the job in May and following England’s disastrous World Cup campaign last winter, that white-ball formats should no longer be treated as secondary.
Speaking on Wednesday Strauss said: “Eoin Morgan’s award reflects his status as captain of our limited overs teams and the wider importance we place on white-ball cricket as we prepare for a busy period of T20 and one-day international cricket over the next 12 months, including the World T20 in India next year.”
The central contracts, up to 16 of which can be handed out for those players deemed key to the senior team’s plans over the next 12 months, supersede county deals and, while rewarding the individuals financially, allow the England and Wales Cricket Board greater control of workloads amid a bulging fixture schedule.
This will be particularly acute for a player like Wood, with the 25-year-old having made his international debut in May and featuring in all three formats despite an ongoing ankle problem. For Morgan, the scorer of 600 runs in 10 one-day innings this summer, it means rest periods like the one negotiated with Middlesex in August would now be arranged with the ECB.
Talking about Wood, who took the wicket that saw England clinch the Ashes series at Trent Bridge in August, Strauss said: “This award reflects his excellent performances for England this summer and our expectation that he will have a role to play in all three formats of the international game over the next 12 months.”
While there is no place for the dropped opener Adam Lyth, four of his fellow Yorkshiremen are named in the incremental list – deals that top up existing county contracts – with Jonny Bairstow joining Ballance, the batsman he replaced after the second Ashes Test, the fast bowler Liam Plunkett and leg-spinner Adil Rashid. The Nottinghamshire batsmen Alex Hales and James Taylor, both recently named in the Test squad for the upcoming series against Pakistan in the UAE that starts on 13 October, are also included after featuring in one-day cricket this summer. *England’s centrally-contracted players for 2015-16:* Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Mark Wood (Durham)
*Incremental contracts:* Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire).
