MELBOURNE, 6 April 2023: Cricket Australia has announced a list of 24 men’s players to be offered national contracts for 2023-24.
The MOU between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketer’s Association, announced on Monday (3 April, 2023), states that between 20 and 24 male players are eligible to be contracted.
Todd Murphy and Sean Abbott received upgrades during last year and have received offers for the upcoming year. An additional four players who did not hold a CA contract last year– Michael Neser, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, and Marcus Harris – have been offered a contract for the upcoming year.
Men’s Chair of National Selectors George Bailey said: “There has been some outstanding individual and team performances through the past 12 months. Equally, we have been extremely impressed with the emergence of some players who are knocking on the door of Australian selection across all three formats.
“Two huge challenges in the Test arena in The World Test Championship and the Ashes are on our doorstep followed soon after by the ICC One-Day World Cup.
“We have chosen a group of players we expect will form the majority of those two campaigns and we know that we will need a squad mentality to achieve success.
“As we find each year now, there is a lot of cricket in the next six to 12 months and our depth will be tested. The six Test matches during the winter are in relatively short succession and we have a busy period of white ball cricket leading up to, and post, the ODI World Cup.
“The NSP support and endorse the change to the MOU agreement which allows further scope for additional contracts which in turn creates additional depth to call on in the next period, as well as retaining the ability to utilise others from outside of this list.”
Matthew Wade, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Matthew Kuhnemann received upgrades during the year but have not been offered a CA contract in 2023/24.
Coming off contract are Aaron Finch (retired from international cricket) and Mitchell Swepson. Players not awarded contracts as part of the initial squad of 24 can earn upgrades throughout the year by accruing 12 upgrade points. Players receive five points for a Test match, two for a One-Day International and two for a T20 International.
Source- Cricket Australia, April 06, 2023
