The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced the list of players who have been awarded the Central contract for the 2015 season. The list doesn’t feature a lot of surprises, the notable one being the inclusion of Mark Wood and Eoin Morgan. Wood made his debut against New Zealand earlier this season and then played in the series against Australia. Eoin Morgan is the captain of the English side in the limited overs format. He has produced decent results after the horrible World Cup earlier this year
The notable exclusions are Gary Ballance, who did play in the starting matches in Ashes, as well as James Taylor, who scored a brilliant century against Australia in the recently concluded ODI series. Johnie Bairstow has also not made it to the central contract list.
Complete list is this picture
Pic Credits: Twitter handle of ECB
Also, the ECB has made it clear that, for the upcoming season, Alastair Cook will continue to lead England in Test cricket and Morgan in the limited overs cricket. England are scheduled to play Pakistan in the UAE. The series will comprise of 3 Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20s. Their previous tour to UAE saw them being defeated, showing no resistance against the Pakistan spinners. They will look to change it this time.