Josh Inglis earns maiden Cricket Australia central contract, Jhye Richardson misses out

Three other players apart from Jhye Richardson who were part of last year's contract but have been excluded this year are Kane Richardson, Tim Paine, James Pattinson (now retired).

Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis earned his maiden central contract while fast bowler Jhye Richardson was the most notable omission from the list of 20 players awarded the central contract for the 2022-23 season announced by Cricket Australia on Thursday. Three other players apart from Jhye Richardson who were part of last year's contract but have been excluded this year are Kane Richardson, Tim Paine, James Pattinson (now retired).

File photo of Josh Inglis (Twitter)

Jhye Richardson's exclusion made way for Scott Boland in the central contracts. Richardson was overlooked for the next Ashes test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and replaced by Boland, who went on to claim player-of-the-match honors on debut. He took six wickets for just seven runs in four overs against England.

Boland, who has a test bowling average of 9.55 after three tests, retains his spot after earning a mid-season contract upgrade.

“It has been a terrific 12 months highlighted by the successes of the T20 World Cup, the Ashes and the Pakistan test series,” chairman of selectors George Bailey said.

“The performances by Mitch Marsh, Usman, Travis, Scott, Marcus and Mitch Swepson were pivotal in helping secure those successes and we are pleased they have retained their contracts. We believe this group provide us great coverage and versatility across all formats while others, as we saw in the past year, will continue to get opportunities to play a big part."

(With AP inputs)