Todd Murphy and Lance Morris have been named in Cricket Australia's expanded 24-member list of centrally contracted male cricketers for the 2023-24 season. Murphy made the cut after enjoying an excellent debut series in India, where he took 14 wickets from four Tests at an average of 25.21 including a seven-fer on debut in Nagpur. Speedster Morris, who was an unused member of that squad and is yet to make his senior team debut, has been included with an eye on the upcoming assignments in England, which feature a World Test Championship final and a five-match Ashes series.
Among Australia's back-up group of fast bowlers, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott have all been handed contracts. Mitchell Swepson, Peter Handscomb and the recently-retired Aaron Finch are the notable absentees from the list.
Cricket Australia contracted men's players 2023-24:
Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar
The expanded list of centrally-contracted players comes on the back of a new pay deal allowing the board to offer four additional contracts over the usual 20. Marcus Harris, for example, hasn't played since the New Year's Ashes Test of 2022 but is expected to return to the fold following a spate of impressive performances in the Sheffield Shield.
"We have chosen a group of players we expect will form the majority of those two campaigns and we know that we will need a squad mentality to achieve success," national selector George Bailey said. "As we find each year now, there is a lot of cricket in the next six to 12 months and our depth will be tested. The six Test matches during the winter are in relatively short succession and we have a busy period of white ball cricket leading up to, and post, the ODI World Cup."
David Warner, who is on the last rungs of his Test career, finds a place with an eye on that ODI World Cup that follows the two Test assignment in England. However, the case of legspinner Swepson is more curious for having gone from being the No.2 spinner behind Lyon to being overlooked for a central contract.
Players not awarded contracts can earn upgrades throughout the year by accruing 12 upgrade points. They receive five points for a Test match, two for an ODI and two for a T20I.