Jofra Archer’s rise in England cricket continues after being awarded an ECB central contract across all formats.
Barbados-born Archer only made his international debut in May shortly after he qualified to represent England and then went on to play a crucial role in the triumphant World Cup campaign and the Ashes series. He was among six players to receive both Test and white-ball contracts for the 2019-20 season, announced on Friday.
In all, selectors awarded 10 Test contracts and 12 white-ball contracts.
Opening batsman Rory Burns earned a Test contract after becoming the third-highest runscorer of the Ashes series with 390 runs from his 10 innings. Batsman Joe Denly – who missed out on World Cup selection after much discussion about his possible role as a spin-bowling all-rounder – was awarded his first white-ball contract.
Moeen Ali, who was dropped for the second Test against Australia and took no further part in the Ashes, missed out on a Test contract, as did Adil Rashid. Both had been contracted across all three formats last year but were awarded only limited-overs deals for next season. Rashid has not played since the World Cup final in July because of a right shoulder injury that required painkilling injections during the tournament.
Jason Roy, who battled to establish himself as a Test batsman through the Ashes was awarded only a white-ball contract.
Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett and David Willey missed out on white-ball contracts for 2019-20.
Selectors can also award a limited number of increment contracts, which went to Burns, Denly and Jack Leach for 2018-19 in recognition of their performances for the team through the current season. Leach and Tom Curran received increment contract for the 2019-20 year commencing on October 1.
ECB Central Contracts list:
Test James Anderson Jofra Archer Jonny Bairstow Stuart Broad Rory Burns Jos Buttler Sam Curran Joe Root Ben Stokes Chris Woakes
ODI / T20 Moeen Ali Jofra Archer Jonny Bairstow Jos Buttler Joe Denly Eoin Morgan Adil Rashid Joe Root Jason Roy Ben Stokes Chris Woakes Mark Wood
Incremental Tom Curran Jack Leach
(ESPNCricinfo)
