Steve Smith and David Warner included in Cricket Australia's contract list

On the day, Steve Smith and David Warner made their much-awaited return to the Australian team, Cricket Australia named them in their central contract list for 2019-2020. Smith and Warner’s year-long ban ended last month and the duo is now eligible to play international cricket once again. Following the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test last March, Warner and Smith lost their central contracts.

The former Australia captain and vice-captain are currently busy playing in the Indian Premier League. They were eligible to play the final two ODIs against Australia last month but the team-management decided playing in IPL is the best option. Smith and Warner will now join the team for a training camp in Brisbane next month where Australia will also play three unofficial ODIs against a depleted New Zealand side. Following that, the defending champions will fly out to England to defend their World Cup title.

The biggest casualties in the latest list are allrounder Mitchell Marsh and opener Matt Renshaw. Marsh, who was named Australia’s joint vice-captain last year, had endured a terrible last year. He lost his spot in the team across all the formats after playing the Boxing Day Test against India where he failed twice with the bat. But luckily for him, he made it to Australia A squad for the England tour following a century in the Sheffield Shield.

Other names to miss out on central contracts are Kurtis Patterson, Joe Burns and Marnus Labuschagne. From those on last year’s roster, Ashton Agar, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake and Andrew Tye have missed out while the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Marcus Harris and Adam Zampa have been elevated back to the contracted group.

A notable inclusion in the 20-man list is injury-prone fast bowler James Pattinson. The Victorian pacer, who has battled back from serious back surgery at the end of 2017, is in the reckoning for a spot in Australia’s Ashes squad that follows immediately after the World Cup.

Versatile players in the list

Australia’s chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said that the newly-announced list features ‘versatile players’ who have the ability to deliver for the team across formats. He also stated that the selectors focussed on choosing those players who can help Australia win the upcoming World Cup and the Ashes.

“We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a versatile group of players who can represent Australia across all three formats over the contract period,” Hohns said. “Our key criteria is to focus on selecting a pool of players who are going to help us in our ambition to win the upcoming World Cup and Ashes series in England, and who can also play the various formats over the course of the Australian summer.”

2019-2020 Cricket Australia contracts

Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Alex Carey, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

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