CURRAN COINS IT IN AS HE EARNS A CENTRAL CONTRACT
SAM CURRAN has capped off an outstanding breakthrough year by earning his first England Test central contract.
Curran is one of 10 players to be given the premium red ball deals worth around £700,000, with bonuses and match fees to be added on.
The 20-year-old only made his Test debut this summer against Pakistan but was man-of-the-series against India despite being dropped for one of the five matches.
He has since picked up a string of awards at the Surrey end-of-season bash, with perhaps an IPL deal to come in the new year.
Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid are the other two new faces on the list after their return to the Test arena.
Buttler has had a stellar spell with the bat, scoring his first Test hundred and being named as vice-captain in place of James Anderson, while Rashid has been less effective in conditions that have suited seam bowlers.
Both men are also one of seven players who have received both red and white ball deals with the World Cup on the horizon.
The 13 white-ball contracts are not as lucrative as their red-ball equivalents and are seen as an ‘add-on’ of around £170,000 to their county deals.
Sam’s brother and fellow Surrey star Tom has been given the only incremental contract, a one-off payment to reward players who play matches unexpectedly. TEST MATCH CONTRACTS: Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
ODI/T20 CONTRACTS: Ali, Bairstow, Buttler, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan, Liam Plunkett, Rashid, Root, Jason Roy, Stokes, David Willey, Woakes, Mark Wood