Eoin Morgan, the limited-overs captain, and Mark Wood, the Durham pacer, were among those awarded central contracts for the 2015-16 season by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Wednesday (September 23).

While this is the first time Wood has been awarded the central contract, Morgan has not had a contract since the 2012-13 season. Morgan had lost his place in the list of contracted players for 2013-14 to Joe Root just before the team took the flight to Australia for the Ashes. All the nine others in the list, which consists of 11 players, retain their contracts from the previous season.

Andrew Strauss, the ECB Director of cricket, said, “We congratulate Mark Wood on winning a central contract for the first time. This award reflects his excellent performances for England this summer and our expectation that he will have a role to play in all three formats of the international game over the next twelve months.”

Strauss further stated that Morgan’s contract goes to show the importance England place on limited-overs cricket.

“Eoin Morgan’s award reflects his status as captain of our limited-overs teams and the wider importance we place on white-ball cricket as we prepare for a busy period of T20 and One-Day International cricket over the next twelve months including the World T20 tournament in India next year.”

That apart, eight other players have been awarded incremental contracts — Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes and James Taylor.

List of contracted players for 2015-16:

Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood.

Source : Wisden India