Ben Stokes and Alex Hales have been retained on England’s list of contracted players for 2017-18, in spite of their current unavailability for selection in the wake of Stokes’ arrest in Bristol last month.
Stokes’ inclusion among five players to have been handed both Test and white-ball contracts comes as it was announced that he would not be on the plane to Australia “as it stands” although a final decision on taking any part on the tour will be made once the police decide their course of action.
Although he was retained as England’s vice-captain after being named in the squad two weeks ago, the ECB are still awaiting the outcome of an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police before they confirm the length of his absence.
The notable absentee from the eight players who have been handed Test contracts is the Durham fast bowler, Mark Wood, precisely the type of explosive but injury-prone cricketer that the contracts system might have been designed to protect. However, having missed out on selection for England’s Ashes party, he has instead been downgraded to a white-ball contract.
Wood returned to action at the start of the 2017 season after a third operation on his troublesome left ankle, and bowled with pace and impact throughout England’s early-season 50-over campaigns, including their run to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.
However, he was notably less effective on his return to Test cricket after an 18-month absence against South Africa in July, when he claimed a solitary wicket in two Tests before succumbing to a bruised heel – caused, he said, by the failure to insert the correct insoles into a new pair of bowling boots.
He will, however, remain on the fringes of England’s Ashes plans, having been selected for the Lions squad that will shadow the main party in November and December, and could yet come back into the reckoning if he can prove his fitness during a two-week camp in Brisbane in the build-up to the first Test at the Gabba on November 23.
Steven Finn, who had a Test contract last year, has also slipped off the list although has been added to the Ashes squad as a replacement for Stokes.
Toby Roland-Jones, who missed out on the Ashes tour after suffering a stress fracture of his back at the end of the season, has earned an incremental contract. He took 17 wickets at 19.64 in his four Tests against South Africa and West Indies.
Jake Ball, the Nottinghamshire pace bowler, has been handed his first contract after earning a white-ball deal. Ball took 5 for 51 on his ODI debut against Bangladesh and was part of the Champions Trophy squad but has conceded more than 80 runs four times in his 16-match career, including 1 for 94 in his most recent outing against West Indies at The Ageas Bowl.
England’s squad for the one-day series against Australia in January will be named in November.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo