Big names miss out as Australia announce men’s players to win new contracts

Mar. 28 (ICC) - A quartet of experienced performers have missed out as Australia announced their list of men’s players to be offered national contracts for 2024-25. 

Cricket Australia (CA) released the names of the 23 players that have won new contracts on Thursday, with veteran all-rounder Marcus Stoinis the biggest name to miss out on a new deal.

Stoinis has battled back injuries in recent times, but was part of Australia's winning ICC Men's Cricket World Cup winning squad last year and remains firmly in their selection thoughts for June's ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Stoinis is joined by fellow all-rounder Ashton Agar, opening batter Marcus Harris, pacer Michael Neser and recently retired star David Warner as players to miss out on fresh contracts, with CA instead opting to provide deals to a handful of new faces.

All-rounders Matt Short and Aaron Hardie win new deals after they were upgraded to the contract list during the summer as does fast bowler Nathan Ellis, while young right-armer Xavier Bartlett also wins a full-time contract after impressing with the ball against the West Indies earlier this year.

Cricket Australia selection chair George Bailey is confident that the players with new deals have long international careers ahead of them.

“Matt, Aaron and Xavier have been extremely impressive in the early stages of their international careers. Their performances and the way they have embraced the international stage has been exciting to watch," he said.

“The panel believes they have strong futures and are deserved of their contracts as they work towards striving to become regulars in the Australian setup.”

Cricket Australia contracted men's players 2024-25: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Jhye Richardson, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa