ECB Awards Central Contracts to Jofra Archer after the Successful World Cup and Ashes Campaign

Jofra Archer has been awarded a central contract for Test and white-ball cricket after his successful ICC World Cup and the recently-concluded Ashes series.

Jofra Archer, 24, was the leading wicket-taker in England’s maiden World Cup win this year. He took 22 wickets in the tournament which came at an average of 20.27 in the four Tests against Australia. Moreover, his bowling touched the speeds in the mid-90-miles-per-hour range in his debut international summer. Along with this, he made headline with his deadly bouncers that troubled the Aussies.

However, Archer only became qualified to play for England earlier this year. He is one of the ten players to receive a Test deal for the 2019-20 season. Another player is the opener Rory Burns, who cemented his place at the top of the order with some good performances in the Ashes campaign. However, the spinners duo Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have lost their central Test contracts, although they are in a list of 12 players, which includes Joe Denly.

Moeen Ali was earlier dropped from the World Cup squad at the end of the group league stage before a dismal performance in the Ashes opener. However, he did not appear for the rest of the series. Adil Rashid, on the other hand, was a regular in the Test side until last year but lost his place during their tour of the West Indies. He even didn’t play against Australia, despite being a regular in the white-ball set-up.

Test contracts: J. Anderson (Lancashire), J. Archer (Sussex), J. Bairstow (Yorkshire), S. Broad (Nottinghamshire), R. Burns (Surrey), J. Buttler (Lancashire), S. Curran (Surrey), J. Root (Yorkshire), B. Stokes (Durham), C. Woakes (Warwickshire).

White-ball contracts: M. Ali (Worcestershire), J. Archer (Sussex), J. Bairstow (Yorkshire), J. Buttler (Lancashire), J. Denly (Kent), E. Morgan (Middlesex), A. Rashid (Yorkshire), J. Root (Yorkshire), J. Roy (Surrey), B. Stokes (Durham), C. Woakes (Warwickshire), M. Wood (Durham).

Increment contracts: T. Curran (Surrey), J. Leach (Somerset).