Archer & Robinson Receive England Central Contracts

Ollie Robinson (one-year) and Jofra Archer (two-year) have been awarded ECB Central Contracts, while James Coles has received an ECB Development Contract for 2026-27.

The summer of 2026 was one to remember for Ollie Robinson, who celebrated the birth of his child, by being crowned as Rothesay Men's Test Player of the Summer. As the newly established leader of England's bowling attack, Robinson took 28 wickets at an incredible average of 9.32 in his four games against New Zealand and Pakistan.

Having started the summer as Sussex's County Championship Captain, he re-launched his England career in style, with the 32-year-old also scoring just his second Test half-century in the final Test against Pakistan. The reward for his fine summer is his first ECB Central Contract since 2023.

Archer has been an important member of England's Test side since his re-introduction to the squad last summer. He featured in three of the five Ashes Tests last winter and five of England's six Tests this summer against New Zealand and Pakistan. The 31-year-old has taken 83 Test wickets at an average of 28.63.

Alongside his red-ball cricket, Archer has also been a key part of England's white ball sides. He has 71 ODI wickets to his name and 68 in IT20s, having played 24 white ball matches for England over the last 12 months. He impressed at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, where he took 11 wickets as England reached the Semi-Finals. 

James Coles has signed his first ECB Development Contract, after being called up to England white-ball squads for the first time this summer. The 22-year-old has also been named in the England squad for the upcoming ODI tri-series in Pakistan, which starts on 18 October as the hosts, Pakistan take on Sri Lanka. 

Coles could make his England debut two days later as they begin the series with a fixture against hosts Pakistan on Tuesday, 20 October.

Additionally, Henry Crocombe has been handed a two-year Central Contract after a stunning 2026 season, where he was named Sussex's Red Ball Player of the Year.

Full ECB Press Release

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed the updated Central Contract list and coaching structure for England Men’s international cricket

The expanded playing list includes 30 players on Central Contracts with a further nine players on England Development contracts for 2026/27. The 2025/26 list included a total of 30 contracted players.

England Men Centrally Contracted Players
Joe Root* (Yorkshire)
Harry Brook* (Yorkshire)
Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)
Jofra Archer* (Sussex)
Gus Atkinson* (Surrey)
Sonny Baker* (Hampshire)
Tom Banton (Somerset)
Shoaib Bashir (Derbyshire)
Jacob Bethell* (Warwickshire)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Brydon Carse (Durham)
Sam Cook (Essex)
Jordan Cox* (Essex)
Henry Crocombe* (Sussex/Surrey)
Sam Curran* (Surrey)
Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Emilio Gay (Durham)
Matthew Fisher (Surrey)
Will Jacks* (Surrey)
Dan Lawrence (Surrey)
Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)
Jamie Overton (Surrey)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Matthew Potts (Durham)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Ollie Robinson (Sussex)
Phil Salt (Lancashire)
Jamie Smith (Surrey)
Josh Tongue* (Nottinghamshire)
*Denotes two-year deal through until 30 September 2028

England Men Development Contracted Players 2026–27
James Coles (Sussex)
Mason Crane (Glamorgan)
Josh Hull (Leicestershire)
Eddie Jack (Hampshire)
Ben McKinney (Durham)
Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)
Thomas Rew (Somerset)
Matthew Revis (Yorkshire)
Mitch Stanley (Lancashire)

In a sign of the growing depth of England Men’s cricket the 39-strong list includes eight players who have agreed Central Contracts, who did not have such a deal for 2025/26, while six players have signed an England Development contract for the first time.

Tom Banton, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Emilio Gay, Matt Fisher and Dan Lawrence have signed Central Contracts for the first time while Ollie Robinson returns to the list having previously been awarded a Central Contract in 2022 and 2023. Fisher has previously held an England Development Contract (2023) and a Pace Bowling Contract (2022).
Sonny Baker is upgraded to a two-year contract while Cox and Crocombe’s first Central Contracts are also for two years. There are a total of 11 players on two-year contracts.

James Coles, Mason Crane, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, Thomas Rew and Mattthew Revis have signed their first England Development contracts. Crane earns his contract in the same week he is to join up with an England squad for the first time in over eight years, while Rew, who captained the Young Lions to the ICC Men’s U19s World Cup final earlier this year, is the youngest player on the list aged 18.

The system, which covers both red-ball and white-ball cricket, takes into account the likelihood of players featuring in England teams across formats during the next period, while also recognising performances over the past year.
The National Lead Coaching Structure and coaching staff for the England Men Test and white-ball teams have also been confirmed.

Two newly-created National Lead coaching roles sees Mike Yardy appointed as Elite National Batting Lead, while Richard Dawson has agreed to undertake the Elite National Spin Bowling Lead role. Troy Cooley began as Elite National Pace Bowling Lead earlier this year.

England Men’s Test Head Coach, Stephen Fleming, will be supported by a coaching staff including Dawson, Marcus Trescothick, James Foster and Eric Simons.

England Men’s white-ball Head Coach, Brendon McCullum’s coaching team will include Sarah Taylor, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee and Kevin Pietersen in his specialist mentor role.

The coaching staff will be in place from the upcoming tours of South Africa (Test) and Australia (white-ball) respectively.