Most of Crocombe’s success to date has come in red-ball cricket, and he took 40 wickets at 23.52 – including two hat-tricks – in Division One of the County Championship this season. But he declared his wider ambitions at the Toyota PCA Awards this month, saying: “I’d like to really move my white-ball game up going forward, so I can be available in all formats for England.”
Key said that the contract structure allowed England to make “longer-term bets” on some players, and said that it would enable the ECB to “map out the next two years” for them. He also said that the shift in the contract system had helped England avoid losing players over the last three years. “I think we might have done had we not had that, but that’s my opinion,” he said.
Nine players who were under contract last year have signed extensions that mean their deals now expire in September 2028. These are: Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Joe Root and Josh Tongue.
Five others – Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Adil Rashid and Jamie Smith – are moving into the second year of existing two-year contracts. These run until the end of England’s 2027 home summer, which features a home Ashes series, a one-off Test against Bangladesh, and white-ball series against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Key said that the ECB’s management had “debated and deliberated long and hard” about whether to offer certain players longer deals, and decided that one-year contracts would “get the best” out of Duckett, Smith and Robinson. He added that Buttler and Rashid remain “desperate” to play for England despite their contracts expiring shortly before next year’s World Cup.
The ECB’s agreement with the Team England Player Partnership means that there is a fixed sum available for central contracts every year, which must be spent fully. “You try and find out a way where you think you are paying what each player’s worth,” Key said. “When you lose a few big-name players, that releases more money to be able to use in different ways.”
Eight players have also been awarded development contracts, which see the ECB take responsibility for half of a player’s existing county salary and provide a 25% top-up. They are: James Coles, Mason Crane, Josh Hull, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, Thomas Rew, Matthew Revis and Mitchell Stanley.
England’s management intend to use these deals to strengthen the Lions programme, since they will embolden the ECB to pull players on development contracts out of county cricket or franchise leagues. “It’s been great to see these players committing to those contracts, knowing full well that if we pick them in Lions cricket, then we’ll expect them to play in that,” Key said.
England’s white-ball squad will fly to Pakistan on Thursday for their upcoming ODI tri-series, which also features Sri Lanka, ahead of their opening game next Tuesday. After the series, they will travel to Australia in November for three ODIs and five T20Is, with the ECB due to announce a squad for that tour on Tuesday.
England central contracts
Two-year contracts: 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 contracts: 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).
Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at Cricinfo. @mroller98
