Adil Rashid has been rewarded for his performances over the summer with a Test central contract from England, with Jos Buttler and Sam Curran also included among 10 players on the red-ball list but no opening batsman.
The leg spinner – who signed a new all-format contract with Yorkshire this month having previously played as a white-ball specialist – played in all five Tests in the 4-1 victory over India but was used sparingly by captain Joe Root in a series dominated by seam.
Yet with the 30-year-old expected to play a major role in Sri Lanka in the forthcoming series alongside fellow spinners Moeen Ali and Jack Leach, Rashid is one of seven players to be handed contracts covering both Test and white-ball cricket with Root, Buttler, Moeen, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes. However, following the decision of the former England captain Alastair Cook to retire from international cricket after the Test series against India, there is a big vacancy at the top of the order which needs to be filled.
Cook’s latest opening partner Keaton Jennings, the Lancashire batsman, misses out on a deal, while Rory Burns had pressed his case when scoring more than 1,000 runs in the County Championship to help Surrey win a first title in 16 years.
England have split their annual deals into red- and white-ball cricket since the end of the 2016 season, the former continuing as straight replacements for county contracts and the latter paying salaries to short-form players on top of their domestic arrangements.
Surrey all-rounder Curran, who was named player of the series against India after match-changing half-centuries at Edgbaston and the Ageas Bowl and 11 wickets via his left-arm swing, is also included for the first time. That means England gain greater control over his workload and will have a say in whether he is to be made available for next year’s IPL, amid rising interest from a number of franchises including Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Meanwhile, Curran’s older brother Tom, who also plays for Surrey, has been awarded an incremental contract for the next 12 months, while Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy and David Willey are among those to be retained on the white-ball list.
Test Match central contracts
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jimmy Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).
White-ball contracts
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Liam Plunkett (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
Incremental
Tom Curran (Surrey)