Prior, Onions and Swann among players awarded England Contracts

The England selectors today announced that eleven players had been awarded 12 month central contracts for the period from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2010.

They are: James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (pictured), Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann.

A further seven players have been awarded England increment contracts: Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Flintoff, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Jonathan Trott and Luke Wright.

National Selector Geoff Miller said: “I am delighted that Graham Onions, Matt Prior and Graeme Swann have all been awarded 12 month central contracts for the first time.

“Central Contracts are designed to reward players who perform well consistently for England and all three have made a very significant contribution to the team“s recent success in regaining the Ashes and beating West Indies at home in both Test and One-Day Series.

“Following his retirement from Test cricket, Andrew Flintoff is no longer eligible for a 12 month central contract. The decision to award an Incremental Contract to Andrew reflects our view that he will still have an important role to play in our One-Day side going forward and we wish him well with his rehabilitation from injury. As we saw in this summer“s npower Ashes Test series, he remains a world-class talent.

“Likewise, the award of incremental contracts to Tim Bresnan, Adil Rashid and Jonathan Trott for the first time is in recognition of the excellent start they have all made to their international careers and their potential to develop still further as cricketers over the next 12 months.”