England hand two-year central contract to Jacob Bethell

Jacob Bethell has been given a two-year central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The 22-year-old, who was previously on a development deal, is among 30 players awarded central contracts after his impressive breakthrough at international level, including becoming England men’s youngest captain for the T20 series against Ireland in September.

Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, said: “This year’s central contract group reflects the depth and strength of talent we have across England men’s cricket.”

Bethell made his senior England debut in a T20 match against Australia in September 2024 and was subsequently named in the Test squad for the tour of New Zealand, where he made a quick-fire half-century.

Prior to captaining England to two wins over Ireland, the Warwickshire star scored his maiden professional century in a one-day international against South Africa.

Bethell is one of 14 men given two-year contracts, with all those being players who represent England in more than one format.

Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley, who only play in Tests, are among those on one-year contracts, with Sonny Baker, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton and Luke Wood the newly-contracted players in this category.

Josh Hull, Eddie Jack, Tom Lawes and Mitchell Stanley are the four players on development contracts.

Key added: “We have awarded two-year deals to our multi-format players so we can manage their workloads responsibly and give them the stability they need to perform across formats.

“We have also secured a number of white-ball players on longer agreements to help us plan effectively around the growing franchise calendar and ensure England remains their priority.

“This structure allows us to support our players properly while maintaining strong squads across all formats as much as possible.”

Fourteen players have been handed two-year central contracts, which expire on September 30, 2027. The list is as follows:

Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Adil Rashid, Joe Root (both Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham) and Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire).

The following players have been awarded 12-month central deals:

Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Zak Crawley (Kent), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Luke Wood (Lancashire) and Mark Wood (Durham).