The fast bowler, Mark Wood, has secured a three-year deal in the new round of England central contracts — but Ben Stokes has opted to sign for only one year.
Wood, who turns 34 in January and has a long history of injuries, is one of 29 players who agreed terms, including the first batch of multi-year deals since they were introduced in 2000. While no players rejected them outright Stokes, 32, the Test captain, spurned an offer of three years in favour of one, in the expectation that he will be able to achieve more advantageous terms in 12 months.
Until now, central contracts had covered only a 12-month period but in this latest round, 18 players have signed two or three-year deals. At first glance, it seems alarming that Stokes, England’s Test captain and most influential cricketer, has not been tied to a lengthier contract but it is essentially because of a new media rights deal taking effect in 2025. The man who has led England’s startling renaissance as a Test team believes he will be in an even stronger negotiating position nearer the time.
Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, who is with the World Cup squad in Bengaluru, has been talking to Stokes about plans for the Test team. Key said: “We’re just going on about [the] India Test series, the Ashes and Pakistan, wherever we go. He’s 100 per cent committed to playing for England.”
Stokes, 32, has previously indicated that he wants to lead the Test team in Australia in 2025-26. Those who have signed three-year deals — Joe Root and Harry Brook, as well as Wood — are now contracted up to and beyond that tour.
• Ben Stokes opting for one-year deal shows players hold all the power
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As it stands, the contracts vary in value according to how many international formats — Tests, ODIs and T20s — a player is involved in and how much of an asset he is to the team. They range from about £150,000 to £900,000.
The ECB will be relieved that so many of its top players have agreed terms because in the game’s turbulent state there is a general fear among national boards that they may lose their best talent to the wealthiest T20 franchises, which may soon be offering year-round deals. The ECB has moved early to counter the threat, if a little too early to entirely pin down Stokes.
Wood’s situation was the game-changer. As first reported in The Sunday Times, Wood in August agreed a deal to play for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 in the UAE early next year at a time when England will be making a Test tour to India, which raised concerns that he would be unavailable for some Tests, and Key admitted that it had raised alarms.
“When Wood was offered a big deal in the UAE we thought, ‘Hang up, we might need to think about this and make sure that we can offer enough incentive for our best players to sign central contracts’. That was sort of where it changed,” he said. “For the first time in this changing landscape we start to see what players really think and what they really do. And we’ve seen that everyone’s committed to English cricket.
“We’re not in a world where for us to win, and keep our players, franchise cricket has to lose and vice versa. We’re in a middle ground where we work with various franchises [but] we’re the ones who have control. When there’s a clash between England and whatever league it is – those players under a central contract, it’s at my discretion if they go. If they’re required by England, they’ll be playing for England.” Key is confident Wood will not now go to the UAE.
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Fifteen players have been placed on two-year deals and eight have agreed terms for one year. Three others have been placed on development contracts. Like Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer rejected three-year deals, in their cases in favour of two years.
Several fast bowlers in need of management have got two years, but James Anderson, at 41 the oldest on the list, has a one-year deal. Ollie Robinson, who only plays Test cricket, and Reece Topley, a white-ball specialist, have also agreed one-year deals.
Somewhat surprisingly, Olly Stone — regarded as one of England’s fastest bowlers — has been omitted. Key said: “It’s not that we don’t rate him, but we’ve told him — go out and get fit, show us what you can do.”
Other absentees include David Willey, the only member of the World Cup squad to miss out, Phil Salt and Will Jacks, who has played for England in all three formats in the past 12 months. “It’s fair to say David Willey wasn’t best pleased,” Key admitted.
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Interestingly, Ben Foakes has been given a one-year deal, which suggests England still see him as part of their Test plans despite dropping him before the Ashes last summer. It raises the prospect of him keeping wicket in India.
Three-year central contracts Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
Two-year central contracts Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire — from November 1), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).
One-year central contracts Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Jack Leach (Somerset), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey).
Development contracts Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), John Turner (Hampshire).
