England have renewed the central contracts of Ollie Pope and Shoaib Bashir for one year despite the duo dropping out of the Test XI but Zak Crawley's expiring deal has not been extended. A total of 39 players are now under contract with Ollie Robinson, uncapped fellow seamer Henry Crocombe and Crawley's replacement as opener in the Test side, Emilio Gay, among eight previously uncontracted players to be rewarded with full deals. They join batters Jordan Cox, Dan Lawrence and Tom Banton and pacemen Sam Cook and Matthew Fisher, with all but Robinson - who had a deal in 2022 and 2023 - handed contracts for the first time. * denotes two-year deal until September 30, 2028 In: Ollie Robinson, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox*, Dan Lawrence, Tom Banton, Henry Crocombe*, Sam Cook, Matthew Fisher.
Out: Zak Crawley, Luke Wood, Ben Stokes (retired), Mark Wood (retired), Tom Lawes (developmental deal). Other players under contract: Joe Root*, Harry Brook*, Jofra Archer*, Gus Atkinson*, Sonny Baker,* Jacob Bethell*, Sam Curran*, Will Jacks*, Josh Tongue*, Rehan Ahmed, Shoaib Bashir, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith. Development deals: James Coles, Mason Crane, Josh Hull, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, Thomas Rew, Matthew Revis, Mitch Stanley.
Cox, who has become an important player across formats, and Crocombe, who could debut during this month's ODI tri-series in Pakistan, have signed two-year agreements until September 30, 2028, with the latter the first England player to pen a multi-year deal before making an international appearance. Surrey-bound seamer Crocombe came to wider attention earlier this season when he took back-to-back hat-tricks for Sussex in the County Championship against Somerset and Essex on his way to bagging 40 wickets at an average of 23.52. Eleven players all told are under contract until autumn 2028, including Test captain Joe Root, white-ball skipper Harry Brook and seamers Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue.
The deals of Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Will Jacks and Sonny Baker also run until then, with Hampshire quick Baker upgraded to a two-year deal after a strong summer. Batter Ben Duckett and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith's deals expire in 2027 and when asked why they were not presented with two-year contracts, England managing director of men's cricket Rob Key said: "We feel this is the best thing that gets the best out of those guys." Seamer Brydon Carse, who has not played for England since an incident outside a Derby nightclub in August that saw him briefly arrested, remains contracted until the end of September 2027 having penned a two-year deal last autumn. Former captain Ben Stokes and fast bowler Mark Wood's contracts have finished following their international retirements.
Nine development deals have been given out, to James Coles, Mason Crane, Josh Hull, Eddie Jack, Ben McKinney, Liam Patterson-White, Thomas Rew, Matthew Revis and Mitch Stanley. Glamorgan leg-spinner Crane could make his first England appearance in over eight years in the upcoming tri-series in the subcontinent that also includes Sri Lanka. Somerset wicketkeeper-batter Rew, 18 - whose older brother James played a Test against New Zealand in 2026 - is the youngest player on the contract list.
Batter Pope has not played for England since being dropped for Jacob Bethell after the third Ashes Test last winter having averaged 20.83 in the series to that point, but was included in squads for the 3-0 Test rout at home to Pakistan this summer. Off-spinner Bashir has also been handed a fresh contract despite appearing in only two Tests in the last year, both against New Zealand in June. He did not feature at all during the 4-1 Ashes thrashing in Australia with all-rounder Jacks preferred as the spin option, while he sat out the Pakistan series as part-time spinner Lawrence earned the nod to support the four-pronged pack attack due to his batting ability.
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