Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday announced the names of the 23 players who earned the new center contracts, with veteran all-rounder Marcus Stoinis the biggest name missing from the list. Stoinis has struggled with back injuries in recent times, but he was also part of Australia’s ICC Cricket World Cup winning team last year and is an integral part of the short format team ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and the US. .
Stoinis is joined by fellow all-rounder Ashton Agar, opener Marcus Harris, pacer Michael Neser and recently retired star David Warner as players to miss out on new contracts, with CA opting to strike deals with a handful of new faces, according to the ICC.
All-rounders Matt Short and Aaron Hardie win new deals after being upgraded to the contract list over the summer, as does fast bowler Nathan Ellis, while young right-armer Xavier Bartlett also wins a full-time contract after impressing with the ball against the West Indies earlier this year. He took two four-wicket hauls in ODIs against the Windies and 2/37 in the solitary T20I he played.
Cricket Australia selection chairman George Bailey expressed confidence that the players with new deals will have long international careers ahead of them.
“Matt, Aaron and Xavier have been extremely impressive in the early stages of their international careers. Their performances and the way they have embraced the international stage have been exciting to watch,” he said, as quoted by the ICC.
“The panel believes they have a strong future and deserve their contract as they strive to become regulars in the Australian set-up,” he added.
Cricket Australia has signed 2024-2025 men’s players: Sean Abbott, Xavier Barlett, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon , Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Jhye Richardson, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.
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