Bairstow loses Test deal as England look to future
England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow has lost his Test central contract but Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley have been added to the red-ball retainer list announced by cricket chiefs on Wednesday.
The move by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had not been unexpected as Bairstow, 31, has played one among days gone by 12 Test matches because the 2019 Ashes. The World Cup winner has been handed a specialist limited-overs deal, with Pope, Crawley and Sibley all promoted after scoring their maiden Test centuries in the last year. England managing director Ashley Giles said he hoped Bairstow, who has played 70 Tests, scoring six centuries, would stay hungry to play a role in English Test cricket.
"It's a knock for him, I'm sure," he said. "Jonny's played one Test match in a year. We only have so many contracts that people award and it's a hardcore call to create because Jonny's been a very good servant for the team."
Giles said the contracts for the three young batsmen showed England's top-order was "needs to function".
"When I came into post about 1 . 5 years ago, among my aims was to have a bigger band of players with the capacity of playing at the best level and I assume that is a demonstration of this -- three fine players," he said.
Fast bowler Mark Wood, thought to be a key part of England's plans to wthhold the Ashes, in addition has been named in the white-ball only list. There are a dozen names in each group, with just five -- Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes -- appearing in both.
Pay cuts?
On the 2019/2020 terms, red-ball deals were thought as worth around 650,000 ($835,000) before bonuses, with white-ball contracts worth about 275,000, however the financial impact of the coronavirus means there is uncertainty over this year's payments. The ECB estimates the pandemic has already cost 100 million, with further losses likely, and happens to be undergoing a round of redundancies. Giles was asked throughout a press conference whether it was inevitable that players would need to have a pay cut.
"If our revenues are decreasing, if pay was to remain the same, then obviously it would squeeze the areas so it's about all of us doing our part over the business," he said. Giles added: "Although the players have been in a bubble in most of the summer, they aren't blind to the reality of what's going on out in the world and I believe they understand they have to play a part in that."
England are because of happen to be South Africa, Sri Lanka and India in the coming months. Giles said he was confident the tours would happen but that it had been vital that you remain "flexible and agile" as a result of global uncertainty.
England contracts for 2020/21: Test and white-ball: Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.
Test only: James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Sam CurranWhite-ball only: Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Curran, Eoin Morgan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Mark Wood.
