New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday announced the central contracts as uncapped fast bowler Henry Crocombe won a bumper two-year deal, while Ollie Robinson also returned.

The contract list for the 2026-27 cycle has been expanded to 39 from the 30 it was in 2025-26 as Ben Stokes and Mark Wood’s retirements freed up finances for more inclusion. 30 players have full deals, while nine are in development contracts offered by the English board, as eight players who did not had a deal for 2025/26 have been contracted.

Apart from Cox and Crocombe, Tom Banton, Sam Cook, Emilio Gay, Matt Fisher and Dan Lawrence have signed central contracts for the first time, while Ollie Robinson returns to the contracts after being awarded the deals in 2022 and 2023.

Crocombe, who was signed by Surrey from Sussex, and Jordan Cox have been handed two-year deals with the former uncapped as of now. Nine other players who were contracted last year have signed extensions, which will see their deals run till September 2028. Those players include: Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Joe Root and Josh Tongue.

Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Adil Rashid and Jamie Smith move into the second year of their contracts.

Six of the nine development-contracted players have signed for the first time. These are James Coles, Mason Crane, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, Thomas Rew and Matthew Revis.

Meanwhile, Zak Crawley and Luke Wood have been dropped altogether from the contracts. Carse, who is currently under investigation by the Cricket Regulator for being briefly arrested outside a nightclub, moves to his second-year deal.

“I don’t see, at the moment, anything to suggest that he won’t continue on that contract,” Key said on Carse, as quoted by Cricinfo, “but we’ll find out more as it (the investigation) goes on.”

England central contracts:

Two-year deal: Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Joe Root, Josh Tongue (to 30 September 2028)

One-year deal: Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Shoaib Bashir, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Ollie Robinson, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith (to 30 September 2027)

Development contracts: James Coles, Mason Crane, Josh Hull, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, Thomas Rew, Matthew Revis, Mitchell Stanley (to 30 September 2027)

No longer contracted: Zak Crawley, Tom Lawes (development), Ben Stokes (retired), Luke Wood, Mark Wood (retired).

–IANS

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