CA reveals national contract lists for 2020-21

30 Apr 2020 Martin Smith

Some big changes as Cricket Australia announces the 35 players to receive national contracts for the year ahead

Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Burns are among six new faces on Cricket Australia's list of centrally contracted men's players for the 2020-21 season, while state teammate Usman Khawaja has missed out for the first time in five years.

National selectors today announced 20 men and 15 women who will be contracted for the next 12 months, with South Australian Tahlia McGrath a surprise addition on the women's list having not played for the national side since 2017.

CA men's contract list: Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

CA women's contract list: Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Meg Lanning, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Labuschagne and Burns have been added along with Ashton Agar, Mitchell Marsh, Kane Richardson and Matthew Wade, players who all missed out on the initial list 12 months ago but earned upgrades during the year.

Khawaja, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh and Marcus Stoinis have all missed out having been part of the initial list last year.

Peter Siddle (retired) and Ashton Turner (omitted) have also been overlooked after they had earned upgrades during the year.

McGrath and young guns Tayla Vlaeminck and Annabel Sutherland are the new faces on the women's list, while Nicole Bolton, Elyse Villani and Erin Burns (who earned an upgrade last year) have missed out.

Players who miss out on the initial contract list can be upgraded during the year by earning selection in national teams. Players need to accrue 12 upgrade points to earn a contract, with Tests worth five points, ODIs two points and T20s one point for men, and Tests worth four points and ODIs and T20s two each for women.

"As Mitch Marsh and Matthew Wade have proven, there are always plenty of opportunities for those who have missed out to be re-selected by performing consistently at domestic level; and importantly to make the most of any opportunity that comes their way at international level," men's national selector Trevor Hohns said.

"As is always the case there are unlucky omissions but, however, because you are not on the list does not mean you cannot be selected to represent Australia."

Women's national selector Shawn Flegler said the addition of fast-bowling allrounder McGrath will help cover long-term injuries suffered by fellow quicks Ellyse Perry and Vlaeminck.

"(McGrath has) been a consistent performer over the last few seasons with bat and ball, including the five matches she played for Australia during the 2017 Ashes series," Flegler said.

"With Tayla and Ellyse Perry coming back from long-term injuries, Tahlia will add extra depth to our allrounders, especially with her bowling.

"We saw that depth come into play during the recent World Cup and we know that will be important with another World Cup scheduled this summer (the ODI tournament in New Zealand in early 2021)."

Flegler noted Burns and off-spinner Molly Strano, who were both part of Australia's recent T20 World Cup winning squad, were unlucky to miss out but remain on the radar of the national panel.

Players are paid from a percentage pool of cricket's projected revenue for the next financial year, but that amount is currently unknown due to the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic.

It means players this year will be notified of what percentage of revenue they will take home, instead of being told of a set amount.