23 Sep 2015 | Cricket
ECB today announced that eleven players had been awarded central contracts for the 2015-2016 period.
Durham fast bowler Mark Wood has won a central contract for the first time after making an impressive start to his international career in a summer which saw him win Test, ODI and T20 recognition.
England ODI and T20 captain Eoin Morgan also joins the 11-strong list which includes nine players who were centrally contracted for the previous 12-month period.
The full list of centrally contracted players is:
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Steven Finn (Middlesex)
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
Mark Wood (Durham)
A further eight players have been awarded incremental contracts:
Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire)
ECB's Director, England Cricket Andrew Strauss 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.
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.