Khawaja to cash in with new CA deal

Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns will headline the players handed new Cricket Australia deals when the 2016-17 contracts are announced.

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja (pic) and Joe Burns will headline the players handed new Cricket Australia deals. (AAP)

Usman Khawaja missed out on an Indian Premier League deal but his sensational summer will be suitably rewarded with Cricket Australia announcing its contract list on Friday.

Khawaja was recovering from a knee reconstruction at this point last year, having accepted he would never get a chance to add to his nine Tests.

The classy batsman has since become one of the form players in the world and is expected to be ranked accordingly on CA's 2016-17 central contract list.

CA never reveals the pecking order which determines who is paid what but Khawaja is set to pocket more than $1 million with his new deal.

Queensland teammate Joe Burns will also reap the benefits of his breakthrough summer, which came amid a time of significant transition for the Test side.

Burns nailed down his place at the top of the Test order following Chris Rogers' retirement, including a man-of-the-match knock of 170 against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Burns, Khawaja, Adam Voges and Peter Nevill are guaranteed new inclusions on CA's contract list, which will feature between 17 and 20 players.

CA looks at performances over the past year and speculates how much players will feature in the forthcoming year when coming up with its ranking system.

Steve Smith, having been appointed captain in all three formats over the past year, will now top the list.

Josh Hazlewood, who led the pace attack in Australia's trans-Tasman series win that delivered the No.1 Test ranking and is a three-format player, can expect a significant pay rise.

There will be at least six changes to the list announced in 2015.

Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris and Rogers have all retired from international cricket.

There are plenty of contenders for a call-up, depending on how many contracts are offered.

Nathan Coulter-Nile was poised to make his Test debut in 2015-16 and played three ODIs and seven T20s over the past year.

Veteran Peter Siddle, who was not included in the 2015-16 list, played five Tests but is recovering from a back injury and may not be part of selectors' future plans.

Legspinner Adam Zampa and allrounder John Hastings have thoroughly impressed national selectors over the past few months but weighting is given to Tests in CA's contracts.

Australia play three Tests in Sri Lanka this year and travel to India for four Tests in early 2017, further boosting Zampa's hopes.

Matthew Wade, who kept wickets in 17 international fixtures since the last contracts were announced, will also be considered.

Cricket Australia's 2015-16 contract list: George Bailey, Michael Clarke , Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Chris Rogers, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, David Warner, Shane Watson.


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world