England cricket central contracts: What is an increment contract? Who has a central contract?

The Cricketer breaks down the details behind the ECB's central contracts

The ECB have continued with the way they award men's contracts, with multi-year deals sitting alongside standard 12-month and developmental deals.

The three contract types for 2024/25 are two and one-year central contracts and development.

Who gets which contract?

Central contracts are handed out to players who feature regularly in Test and limited-overs cricket.

From 2016, separate red and white-ball players deals were awarded with some players appearing on both lists.

In 2021 the system was revised with just one group of players, who are available across all formats, awarded full deals.

From 2023, in reaction to the growing influence of franchise leagues across the world and in an effort to manage players over a longer cycle, multi-year deals have been awarded for the first time since central contracts were established in 2000.

Who controls availability?

Centrally contracted players have their availability dictated by the ECB. The England staff will determine, for example, when a player might be available for county matches.

Development contracts are given to players, either uncapped or on the fringes of selection, who are still proving themselves in the international arena.

They may have made an impact in the white-ball game, for instance, but are yet to establish themselves in Test cricket or vice versa.

Development contracts do not give the ECB overall jurisdiction in the availability and workload of a player. However, because they do receive an additional salary on top of their county wage which can be worth up to £70,000.

Typically awarded to pace bowlers with less certainty over future appearances they allow the governing body can closely monitor their development and dictate workloads amid an increasingly busy schedule.

How much are Central Contracts worth?

Contracts typically start at £130,000 in the lowest bracket, rising to around £800,000. Though there are some discrepancies.

On top of that pay, players could expect to receive match fees of approximately £12,500 per Test, £5,000 per one-day international and £3,500 for a T20I. In 2023, these fees were equalised for men and women.

Who currently has a deal?

The most recent set of central contracts for 2024/25 cover 12-month and two-year periods

Two-year contracts: Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jofra Archer  

One-year contracts: Rehan Ahmed, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone      

Development contracts: Josh Hull, John Turner

How to watch England Test matches, ODI and T20 matches

England men's international matches are broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket channels. You will need a Sky Sports subscription package to be able to watch the channels.

If you have BT TV you will need to add Sky Sports as a package here, while Virgin Media customers can upgrade to Sky here.

Sky is also offering NOWTV monthly passes that will allow you to watch all three tests against West Indies for £34.99.

England fans who already have access to Sky Sports but are abroad during the test can access their package by downloading a VPN. Downloading a VPN allows you to set your network as UK-based in order to watch your SkyGo subscription even if you are not in the UK. You can get a VPN here.