Earlier today, the ECB (English Cricket Board) has announced the list of their central contracts for 2022-23. Surprisingly only 18 players have made it to the main list which is two less than what was announced last year. The total number of players who have extended contracts has increased from 27 last year to 30. Surprisingly his two mainstays Dawood Malan and Jason Roy are missing. Roy has been going through a bad phase and it was almost certain that he would be missed.
As far as Malan is concerned, things have been quite strange. The left-handed batsman had made a comeback in the Test side when the last contract was announced, but as of now, he finds himself on edge. Roy, on the other hand, has been extremely poor and has an average of 24.20 in ODIs and 19.04 in T20s so far. In his last six matches for England, Roy managed to score just 78 odd runs. Things are looking quite disappointing for Malan too as he is still not England’s choice for the 50-over format. Apart from Malan and Roy, Surrey opener Rory Burns has also been ignored by the cricket board.
English wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes has earned his first central contract due to his impressive performances in the English summer against sides such as New Zealand, South Africa and India. Prolific batsman Liam Livingstone has made it to the main list for the first time. There is now another player without a deal Eoin Morgan, who retired from international cricket in June. The English Cricket Board has also shown great faith in pacer Jofra Archer and continues to include him in their main list despite a protracted elbow injury.
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The number of wage increase contracts has increased from four to six, but players such as Chris Jordan, Tom Curran and Dom Bess have not received any type of ECB deal. David Wiley has been added to the list and it stars the likes of Harry Brooke, Matthew Potts and Reece Topley. Each of them has earned their first central contract. The lack of Malan and Jordan has come as a surprise as they have been involved in white-ball games in almost every format. Surprisingly, both are part of England’s T20 World Cup squad which is currently in Australia.