Cricketer Jonny Bairstow loses Test central contract with England

Three young talents have been handed their first central contracts

Jonny Bairstow has missed out on a Test central contract with the ECB for 2020/21. The wicket-keeper batsman was not selected for either test series against the West Indies or Pakistan this summer but remains an integral figure of the limited overs teams captained by Eoin Morgan. Bairstow will continue to play white ball cricket for England. Batsmen Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Dom Sibley have all been handed their first Test central contracts with England after an impressive summer. Sibley appears to have solved the problem of finding an opening batsman to partner Rory Burns, while Crawley impressed at no. 3 with a spectacular 267 against Pakistan, allowing captain Joe Root to move back down to his preferred position of no. 4. Joe Denly, who played at no. 3 throughout the 2019 Ashes series has missed out altogether and has not been given a contract for either Test cricket or limited overs matches. Players on the Test and white-ball contracts will have their salaries, which are calculated by a ranking system based on performance, fitness and other factors, paid in full by the ECB. Contracts for both Test cricket and white ball cricket have been given to the following players: Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire). James Anderson (Lancashire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey) and Dom Sibley (Warwickshire) have all been given red ball contracts. While Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham), have been given white ball contracts. 'Incremental contracts' - deals given to those who play regularly but are not guaranteed picks, effective a pay as you play deal - have been given to Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Jack Leach (Somerset) and Dawid Malan (Yorkshire)