ECB announces updated England Men’s Central Contract list for 2025–26

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

A total of 30 players have been awarded England Men’s Central Contracts - comprising 14 England Two-Year Central Contracts, 12 England Annual Central Contracts, and four England Development Contracts.

England Men Centrally Contracted Players 2025–26

England Two-Year Central Contracts (30 September 2027)
Jofra Archer (Sussex)
Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Brydon Carse (Durham)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Will Jacks (Surrey)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Jamie Smith (Surrey)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)

England One-Year Central Contracts (30 September 2026)
Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)
Sonny Baker (Hampshire)*
Shoaib Bashir (Somerset)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Liam Dawson (Hampshire)*
Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)*
Jamie Overton (Surrey)*
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Matthew Potts (Durham)
Phil Salt (Lancashire)
Luke Wood (Lancashire)*
Mark Wood (Durham)

*Denotes newly centrally contracted player for 2025–26
 

England Development Contracts
Josh Hull (Leicestershire)
Eddie Jack (Hampshire)
Tom Lawes (Surrey)
Mitchell Stanley (Lancashire)

Five players - Sonny Baker, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton and Luke Wood - have been awarded England Central Contracts for the first time.

Three players - Eddie Jack, Tom Lawes and Mitchell Stanley - have agreed England Development Contracts for the first time, joining Josh Hull.

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.

Rob Key, Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, said:

“This year’s central contract group reflects the depth and strength of talent we have across England Men’s cricket.

“We have awarded two-year deals to our multi-format players, so we can manage their workloads responsibly and give them the stability they need to perform across formats.

“We have also secured a number of white-ball players on longer agreements to help us plan effectively around the growing franchise calendar and ensure England remains their priority.

“This structure allows us to support our players properly while maintaining strong squads across all formats as much as possible.”