Cricket Australia on Wednesday announced its central contracts for 2026/27 comprising of 21 cricketers. Currently on a break, Pat Cummins and co. have a Test-heavy schedule on resumption of international cricket, with the team set to take on Bangladesh, New Zealand and India in the course of the next 12 months. CA has come down hard on non-performers and those struggling with injuries and has axed Glenn Maxwell, Sam Konstas and Jhye Richardson from the list.
Australia announce central contracts for 2026/27
Xavier Bartlett, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Brendan Doggett, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster, Adam Zampa
Test captain Pat Cummins along with heavyweights and mainstays like Starc, Labuschagne, Smith, Marsh, Green, Lyon among others have been retained on the list of central contracts. Australia chief selector George Bailey explained that the players who made it to the list are those who will be a part of the busy Test schedule and multi-format players.
“The next 12 months encompasses a busy Test schedule across a range of conditions and challenges. This is reflected in the contract list through a predominance of Test and multi-format players for this cycle,” said chair of men’s selectors George Bailey.
Maxwell, who has been in awful form in the last 12 months and has suffered multple injuries, has been dropped from the central contracts. After all, he is at the fag end of his career, as predicted by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
Another ommission, which does not come as a surprise, is that of Konstas. The young batter made his debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India in December 2024. He entered international cricket with a lot of hype based on his form prior to that in domestic cricket. However, his form dipped since then and despite repeated opportunities, Konstas continued to fail. His struggles continued in domestic cricket and in the Big Bash League as well.
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