Redbacks strengthen squad with young guns

South Australia have confirmed teenage leg-spinner Tom O'Connell will not be contracted by the Redbacks this season, with leggies Adam Zampa and Lloyd Pope named in a 28-man squad on Tuesday.

O'Connell, 17, will join Victoria for the 2018-19 campaign having turned down the offer of a rookie deal with the Redbacks.

"It was disappointing to lose Tom at this early stage of his career but we wish him all the best," said Tim Nielsen, SA's high performance manager.

"We have a policy of waiting for young players to finish their schooling before offering full contracts.

"There's a lot of competition for our spin positions. We have Adam Zampa and Lloyd Pope on our list and Tom could see better opportunities over there."

The Redbacks have added three new faces to their contract list, with opener Conor McInerney, fast bowler Elliot Opie and allrounder Luke Robins all signed on full deals.

Nick Benton and rookie Daniel Drew have lost their contracts from last season.

Captain Travis Head, fast bowler Kane Richardson and wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey are the three Cricket Australia centrally-contracted players in the squad.

"They have all put their hands up by making runs and taking wickets at Premier Cricket and Futures League level and they have also shown great commitment to improving their games through the Emerging Redbacks program," Nielsen said of the three new faces.

"It's also great to have three players with CA contracts as this allows us to offer more state squad positions to young players."

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 2018-19

CA contracts: Alex Carey, Travis Head, Kane Richardson

Full contracts: Tom Andrews, Tom Cooper, John Dalton, Callum Ferguson, David Grant, Jake Lehmann, Conor McInerney, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Elliot Opie, Patrick Page Jnr, Luke Robins, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Kelvin Smith, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa

Rookie contracts:  Michael Cormack, Spencer Johnson, Lloyd Pope, Ben Pengelley, Jake Winter