ACB Contracted Players 2003-4

[Donny]

ACB announces 2003-04 contracted players list
Australian Cricket Board - 23 April 2003


Australian Cricket Board (ACB) today announced that the National Selection Panel (NSP) had selected the 25 players to be contracted by the Board for the next 12 months.

The players are:

MICHAEL BEVAN NSW 32
ANDY BICHEL QLD 32
NATHAN BRACKEN NSW 25
MICHAEL CLARKE NSW 22
ADAM GILCHRIST WA 31
JASON GILLESPIE SA 28
IAN HARVEY VIC 31
NATHAN HAURITZ QLD 21
MATTHEW HAYDEN QLD 31
BRAD HOGG WA 32
JUSTIN LANGER WA 32
BRETT LEE NSW 26
DARREN LEHMANN SA 33
MARTIN LOVE QLD 29
STUART MacGILL NSW 32
GLENN McGRATH NSW 33
JIMMY MAHER QLD 29
DAMIEN MARTYN WA 31
ASHLEY NOFFKE QLD 25
RICKY PONTING TAS 28
ANDREW SYMONDS QLD 27
SHANE WARNE VIC 33
SHANE WATSON TAS 21
STEPHEN WAUGH NSW 37
BRAD WILLIAMS WA 28

Queensland Bulls paceman Ashley Noffke will accept his second contract, after being on the list in 2001-02 and Western Warriors spinner Brad Hogg gets his first full-year contract, after being upgraded to contracted status during the 2002-03 season.

Retired Australian batsman Mark Waugh, his New South Wales teammate Stuart Clark and Western Australian batsman Michael Hussey have not been offered new contracts.

The contracted players are paid a base retainer, which is levelled according to a player ranking system decided by the National Selection Panel. Each player also receives match fees, tour fees and prize money for on-field success.

Under a formula agreed with the Australian Cricketers' Association as part of the 2001 – 2005 Memorandum of Understanding, the minimum retainer in 2003-04 is $125,000, up $15,000 from last year.

Match fees for 2003-04 have been increased by 10 per cent, and players will receive $12,100 for each Test and $4850 for each one-day international.

ACB Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said the National Selection Panel has a difficult task in nominating 25 players for Australian Cricket Board contracts each year.

"With an average age of 29, the list for this year boasts a good mix of youth and experience and presents a talented crop from which to choose the Australian team," Mr Sutherland said.

"Like the selection of any squad, some players will be disappointed, but they can be comforted in the knowledge that exclusion from the list does not end the chance of gaining Australian selection at any stage this year."

The National Selection Panel, which comprises former Australian players Trevor Hohns (Chairman), David Boon, Allan Border and Andrew Hilditch, nominate the 25 players based on two primary criteria:

The form of the players over the past 12 months; and their likelihood of Australian selection over the next 12 months taking into account who Australia plays, balance of the side and the need to ensure the future development of the Test and one-day international teams.

The contracted players are the core group from which selectors will choose Test and one-day international sides in the year ahead. Uncontracted players remain eligible for Australian selection and can be upgraded to an ACB contract if they gain regular selection.

Following the announcement of the ACB's contracted players, state cricket associations are now able to form their lists for season 2003-04.

[Donny]

Interesting to note one name not on that list.

One Simon Katich.

Oh, and another. Michael Kasprowicz.