England are confident Ben Stokes remains “100 per cent committed” to international cricket, despite turning down a three-year central contract in favour of a 12-month extension.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has introduced multi-year deals for the first time in a bid to guard against the growing influence of franchise leagues but Test captain Stokes has rejected an offer that would have tied him in until autumn 2026.
Instead of taking the long-term security of an offer that would have been worth in the region of £3million – no small matter given his fitness issues in recent times – he has agreed another annual retainer and plans to renegotiate again next year.
Director of men’s cricket Rob Key, who has overseen the revamped system, is relaxed about the decision and believes Stokes is merely gambling on raising his future value at the bargaining table.
“Ben was offered three, but he’s actually turned around now and said: ‘No, I think I’ll be in a stronger position next year’,” explained Key.
“You might have more power if you have a good year to negotiate what you want. But he’s 100 per cent committed to playing for England, so I wouldn’t read into it the fact he signed one year that he’s not.
“By no means is it Ben Stokes saying: ‘I don’t want to play for England’. All he talks about is being completely committed to playing for England and also captaining that Test team – planning for India, planning for the Ashes, planning for West Indies and Sri Lanka next summer. I don’t think it has crossed his mind not playing for England for the next four, five, six years.”
A total of six three-year deals were offered – with Joe Root, Harry Brook and Mark Wood signing up, while white-ball captain Jos Buttler and injured seamer Jofra Archer have gone for a middle ground by taking two-year options.
There are 26 deals in all, spanning the age range from 19-year-old Rehan Ahmed to 41-year-old James Anderson. Fifteen are on two-year options, with eight on traditional 12-month terms and top-up payments handed to seam trio Matthew Fisher, Saqib Mahmood and the uncapped John Turner.
Nobody has refused to sign, but several may have been disappointed not to make the cut. David Willey is the only member of the World Cup squad in India not to make the list, highly-rated all-rounder Will Jacks was also omitted despite being capped in all three formats over the last year and Jason Roy is out after terminating the remainder of his previous deal to play Major League Cricket in the United States last summer.
Key was speaking in Bengaluru, where England will be hoping to boost a dreadful World Cup campaign with victory over Sri Lanka on Thursday, and admitted having a tough conversation with Willey.
“It’s fair to say David wasn’t best pleased, as you can understand, being the only one out here not to get a contract,” he said.
“It’s bloody tough, to be honest. We’d love to live in a world where you can just say we have a pot of extra cash and you can just give him something because he’s come out for the World Cup.”
Key believes the new raft of contracts have effectively safeguarded England’s interests at a time when the sports tectonic plates are shifting fast.
The spending power of the biggest Indian-backed T20 brands means international boards are struggling to compete and there has been a real fear at the ECB that its most prized assets could be lured away from the national set-up entirely.
“You don’t know what the future holds with franchise cricket; you don’t know when the first year-long deal for an English cricketer is going to be offered from a franchise,” he said.
“So I’m pretty pleased because I think for the first time in this changing landscape for cricket we start to see what players really think and what they really do. And we’ve seen that everyone’s committed to English cricket.
“I don’t want a world where you see your best players going off and (only) playing franchise cricket. I want to see them playing for England.”
Three-year deals:H Brook, J Root, M Wood.
Two-year deals:R Ahmed, J Archer, G Atkinson, J Bairstow, J Buttler, B Carse, Z Crawley, S Curran, B Duckett, L Livingstone, O Pope, M Potts, A Rashid, J Tongue, C Woakes.
One-year deals:M Ali, J Anderson, B Foakes, J Leach, D Malan, O Robinson, B Stokes, R Topley.
Development deals:M Fisher, S Mahmood, J Turner.
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
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