MONEY TALKS BUT NOT WHEN JOE MAKES CALL

JOE ROOT has admitted that marginal decisions on team selection is not influenced by whether a player has a central contact.

That is why he feels at ease picking Jonny Bairstow, who does not have one for Tests, ahead of Zak Crawley, who does.

Crawley (above) is the coming man of English cricket with the brightest of futures, but when push came to shove for this crucial pink-ball third

Test, Root had little choice but to ignore potential in favour of tried and trusted experience to try to get the job done.

“I’m not involved with contract talks and how they’re handed out and awarded,” said Root.

“So for me it’s about trying to pick the team we think is going to win. It doesn’t really have any reflection on what contract someone is on – we’re just trying to pick the best team for the Test match.”

Bairstow (below) might have missed out on a £750,000 deal in October after almost a year out of the Test side, but his value in the subcontinent is tremendous and he played his part in two wins in Sri Lanka before nipping home for a break.

Like any young batsman, Crawley (above) found life tough in Galle, falling four times for less than 14 to spin, with a further trial by spin imminent in Ahmedabad.

The decision makes perfect sense, unless of course you question why cash-strapped England are paying three quarters of a million pounds for someone to carry the drinks.

You could also ask why the ever present Jack Leach is on an increment deal worth around £100,000 and why both Root and Chris Woakes get a £350,000 white-ball top-up in a T20 heavy year they will play no part in, while T20 record-breaking bowler Chris Jordan is also on an increment deal.

The central contract system is both badly in need of modernising, and some more forensic attention to detail from those who hand them out.

As chief executive Tom Harrison regularly points out, a hole in the game’s finances means times are not good enough to dish out cash without a proper return on investment.