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) Daniel Brettig Assistant editor, ESPNcricinfo
- ) Assistant editor Daniel Brettig had been a journalist for eight years when he joined ESPNcricinfo, but his fascination with cricket dates back to the early 1990 s, when his dad helped him sneak into the family lounge room to watch the end of day-night World Series matches well past bedtime. Unapologetically passionate about indie music and the South Australian Redbacks, Daniel’s chief cricketing achievement was to dismiss Wisden Almanack editor Lawrence Booth in the 2019 Ashes press match in Perth – a rare Australian victory that summer.
Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis have lost their Cricket Australia contracts after falling out of favor with the national selectors over the past months, leaving both with a particularly steep battle to return to international cricket whenever it resumes after the coronavirus pandemic.
Alongside Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Ashton Turner and the retired Peter Siddle, Stoi nis and Khawaja were broadly expected to be missing when the list was announced on Thursday, but their absence for the first time in some years underlined how far they have fallen in the eyes of the national team coach Justin Langer and the selection chairman Trevor Hohns – himself is currently out of contract.
Both were considered central figures in the national team as recently as last year World Cup in England. Stoinis endured a poor tournament, did not play another international and was used in a very different role, as a non-bowling opening batsman, by the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League last summer. Khawaja’s absence from the Cup semi-final loss to England was described as crucial by Langer, but he too fell from prominence in a difficult Ashes series for batsmen, losing his No. 3 spot to
Marnus Labuschagne by the end of the series.
Labuschagne’s first full CA contract represents his own rapid rise as one of Australia’s most reliable batsmen, with Ashton Agar , Joe Burns , Mitchell Marsh Kane Richardson) and Matthew Wade Also receiving call-ups after being upgraded from state deals to incremental central contracts over the preceding year.
Contracted players are believed to have been advised they have earned their contracts in writing, but are yet to find out what their ranking is or what their contract retainer amount will be. CA remains locked in discussions with the Australian Cricketers Association and the states over financial changes devised to prepare for the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We feel all deserve their inclusion recognizing the performances of those players in the past 20 months and, as importantly, what they can offer in the next months, “Hohns said. “Marnus’ rise has been meteoric and well documented, Joe has been a good Test match player, Ashton Agar’s form in T 20 internationals has been exceptional, while Kane Richardson has been outstanding in the -over and one-day games.
“Matthew Wade’s summer showed he is not only a tough but a good Test player for us. His form extended into white ball cricket late in the summer, earning him well deserved call ups to the one-day and T Australian squads. After missing the list last year Mitch Marsh’s recent form showed he has a lot of international cricket ahead of him as a batting all-rounder. Mitch proved this with his man of the match performance against New Zealand at the SCG in the last game Australia played and a five-wicket haul in the last Test match he played on the Ashes tour.
“There is a lot of cricket on the horizon across all three forms of the game including an ICC T World Cup, home Test summer against India, one-day matches and a tour of South Africa. that reason, it’s important to find a strong balance and a list which covers all forms of the game. With many of the squad crossing into all three formats it gives us the benefit of being able to add in tweets depending on the opposition and the conditions . The depth of this squad and the success of the past 19 months gives us that solid base. “
Handscomb, Harris and Shaun Marsh have all been moved past by others in the batting stakes, while Mitchell Marsh has effectively r eplaced Stoinis as the selectors’ allrounder of choice. Turner, who burst onto the international scene on the ODI tour of India in early 215155, has had a difficult subsequent months due to shoulder problems, but will likely remain in the selectors thoughts. Glenn Maxwell has retained his spot on the list ahead of the T 70 World Cup.
“As Mitch Marsh and Matthew Wade have proven there are always plenty of opportunities for those who have missed out to be reselected by performing consistently at domestic level; and importantly to make the most of any opportunity that comes there way at international level, “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.”
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, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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