Todd Murphy and Lance Morris headline 2023-24 Australian men’s contracts, Renshaw snubbed


Bespectacled cult hero Todd Murphy has headlined the latest round of contract offers from Cricket Australia, rewarded for a season that saw him take seven wickets on Test debut in India, bowling himself firmly into the frame as Nathan Lyon’s heir apparent.

He was joined by West Australian fast bowler Lance Morris as first-time contracted players to the national side, with Sean Abbott, Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson all being added to the contract list.

Watch every match of the 2023 IPL LIVE & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Victorian batter Marcus Harris has returned to the national contract list despite falling behind Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw last summer as the preferred backup batter.

Handscomb and Renshaw themselves have missed out on contracts, suggesting that Harris’ strong county record has kept him in selectors’ sights ahead of an away Ashes tour.

Chair of the National Selection Panel, former national captain George Bailey, said the group was selected on the basis of a “squad mentality”.

“We have chosen a group of players we expect will form the majority of those (World Test Championship, Ashes and ODI World Cup) campaigns and we know that we will need a squad mentality to achieve that,” he said.

Ahead of a massive year that includes an Ashes tour, World Test Championship final and World Cup, the national side’s annual contract list has revealed where the selectors’ priorities lie moving forward.

With an updated memorandum of understanding with the players’ union, the number of contracts on offer increased from a maximum of 20 last year to 24 this year, and included an increase in the value of contracts, despite commentary that the impending end to Alinta Energy’s deal with Cricket Australia as major sponsor would impact player salaries.

Cricket Australia men‘s contract list 2023-24: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *