England plan to update central contracts policy
In an attempt to ensure they are best-placed to challenge for two world tournaments on home soil, England has announced a plan to update their central contract policy at the end of this month.
According to former England captain Andrew Strauss, who is currently the director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, there has been over prioritisation of test cricket in England over ODI and T20 cricket, and he wants to overcome the imbalance by implementing certain changes.
The England cricket selectors have had a lot on their mind recently as Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales – both, dropped out of the tour to Bangladesh fo the three-match series due to security issues, since the July terror attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Strauss has also been planning for the limited-overs squads' longer-term future.
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Strauss implied that modifying the emphasis in player contracts would be a key element he is determined to address.
"I've spoken about taking white-ball cricket more seriously, and creating a balance between the formats," he said.
"I don't think our central contracts system, as it currently stands, does that.
"We've been working on creating a system that does reflect that better...we will be announcing [that] probably in the last week of September."
Paul Farbrace, who is the assistant coach of England, who was linked with the then vacant role as Surrey's new coach, agreed to a fresh deal with the national side. His successful partnership with head coach Trevor Bayliss was translated into the team's improvements over the past year or so.
"He's an incredibly valuable member of the staff. We all know the impact he makes on the team and we all know the relationship he has with Trevor Bayliss and how successful that is. We hope he will continue to play a part in the England team for quite a long time to come," said Strauss, as he was delighted about retaining Farbrace
After the implementation of the new central contracts policy, will we finally see a balance of limited overs cricket and test cricket in England? Only time will tell.