Jhye still in the mix despite injury, contract exclusion

Selection chair George Bailey has indicated injury-plagued Jhye Richardson's struggles to stay fit was a key reason he was overlooked for the list of 20 centrally contracted men's players announced by Cricket Australia yesterday.

Richardson was a notable exclusion from the list along with incumbent T20 wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and T20 World Cup squad member Kane Richardson.

Bailey acknowledged Jhye Richardson might hold a claim to being the unluckiest player outside the 20 to earn contracts, the maximum number that can be signed to CA deals under the terms of the current Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Cricketers' Association.

But he added both Richardsons and Wade remained key components of Australia's selection plans across all three formats, with the trio virtually assured of figuring in the men's team's upcoming white and red-ball tour to Sri Lanka beginning in June.

Jhye Richardson was instrumental in Australia's victory in the second Vodafone Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval last December when he claimed five wickets in England's second innings, but was rested from the following Test in Melbourne having developed shin soreness.

For the 25-year-old, who burst on to the international scene in 2019 taking 5-45 in his debut Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba, it was another in a series of ill-timed injury setbacks since earning his Baggy Green Cap.

He dislocated his right shoulder in a fielding mishap prior to the ICC World Cup in mid-2019 and underwent two operations, which – along with a side strain suffered while on the comeback trail last year – saw him sidelined from first-class cricket for two Australia summers.

In his comeback game for Western Australia in the Marsh Sheffield Shield last October he was troubled by a back spasm and he was unavailable for WA's Shield title win last week having injured his left hamstring in the final of the Marsh One-Day Cup competition in March.

Bailey said today those unfortunate injuries were a consideration as he and fellow selector Tony Dodemaide finalised the central contract list, which he likened to a traditional touring squad designed to cover all contingencies across batting, bowling and wicketkeeping through all three formats.

"Jhye, we like his skills set across all three formats and we're just looking forward to his availability increasing and continuing to build his resilience and ability to play a lot more cricket over the next 12 months," Bailey said today.

"And a little bit the same with Kane (Richardson), with that T20 World Cup coming up (in Australia next October)."

Kane Richardson – like his WA namesake – was most recently part of Australia's Dettol T20 series against Sri Lanka last February, but he has increasingly become a T20-only bowler at domestic level having played just one 50-over game and as many Shield matches for South Australia in the past two years.

He will take part in the Hundred later this year having been picked up (along with Wade) by Birmingham Phoenix in the player draft held this week, but his domestic future remains unclear now he has left Adelaide and relocated to the Gold Coast for family reasons.

It is understood that Queensland – with Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Swepson receiving CA deals – is in a position to potentially offer Kane Richardson a state contract while he continues to play for Melbourne Renegades in the KFC BBL.

"If the contract list was 10, then the 11th looks unlucky and if it was 25 then the 26th looks unlucky," Bailey said in highlighting the limited opportunities for an extensive list of candidates.

"There's always someone who just misses.

"You could say (Jhye Richardson) was unfortunate to miss, I think Matthew Wade's another one in the same boat and Kane Richardson to an extent as well.

"They're all guys we fully expect will play for Australia in the near future.

"In all likelihood they'll all be picked in our next touring party (to Sri Lanka).

"They're not contracted, but certainly not (deemed as) not required, their skills sets are all really important.

"Wadey is still first-choice wicketkeeper in our T20 team, with a big build-up coming to that World Cup."

With Wade's incumbency in Australia's reigning world champion T20 team confirmed, and Alex Carey having strengthened his grip on the role in the Test and ODI outfits, Bailey confirmed the decision to sign reserve gloveman Josh Inglis to a CA contract was an investment in the future.

Inglis is held in high regard for his batting and keeping in red and white-ball cricket, and has played six T20 internationals since making his Australia debut in the Sri Lanka series earlier this year.

He was also Carey's understudy on the just-completed Test tour to Pakistan, but played only the final match of that campaign having contracted COVID-19 at the conclusion of the three-Test series.

Bailey indicated the 27-year-old will become an integral part of Australia's men's squads across all formats from here on and his inclusion in the central contract list, while Wade lost his CA deal, showed the faith selectors hold in his long-term future.

"I think Josh has done really well in the opportunities that he's had," Bailey said.

"He's clearly our keeper-in-waiting behind Alex (Carey) in the Tests and one-day formats, and he's the keeper-in-waiting behind Wadey in the T20 format.

"He's going to be a huge part of every tour we go on.

"We're investing as much in the future with him as we are looking at what's happened in the past 12 months."

Inglis was the only player among the seven new additions to this year's contract list – the others being Scott Boland, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Khawaja and Swepson – whose inclusion came at the behest of selectors rather than through the accumulation of eligibility points.

Under the current MOU, players who earn 12 or more 'upgrade points' (with each Test appearance worth five points, ODIs two and T20Is one) are automatically entitled to a CA contract.

But despite the presence of two showcase ICC limited-overs tournaments over the coming 18 months – the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November this year and its 50-over equivalent in India 12 months later – Bailey denied short-form considerations had been prioritised in the contract list.

"It wasn't white-ball focused," he said.

"It's a huge 12 months in terms of Test cricket as well, so it was about trying to get a balance across the group.

"It was almost like trying to pick a squad in many respects.

"Trying to make sure we had a really good balance across bat, ball, wicketkeepers and then obviously the three formats.

"Where the (Future Tours Program) cycle is at the moment, there is a T20 World Cup and there's only about 20 (ODI) games until the one-day World Cup which isn't a great deal in terms of when you're starting to build a team and a framework of how you're going to play together.

"And then another big summer of five Test matches at home (against West Indies and South Africa) and an away series in India as well."