ENGLAND CONTRACTS

The ECB awards up to sixteen Central Contracts of 12 months duration, with the contract period running from 1 October to 30 September. Contracts are only offered to those players whom the ECB Board believe will play a major role in England’s activities in the year ahead.

For players holding a 12-month Central Contract, an England retainer replaces their County salary, with the County retaining the player’s registration. If the player is made available to his County, this will be on a free-of-charge basis.

The ECB may offer additional 12-month contracts, known as Increment Contracts. Likely recipients include those players who would be expected to feature regularly in the England ODI and/or T20 teams, but who are not well-established in the Test team. With England Increment Contracts, the County continues to pay the player’s salary, with ECB paying the player an incremental salary. The County receives compensation from the ECB for matches missed while on England duty.

Additional Increment Contracts can be automatically earned by players by accumulating points for England appearances throughout the contract year. Five appearance points are awarded for a Test appearance, and two for an ODI or T20 appearance, with an Increment Contract awarded to any player accumulating twenty appearance points.

Any player selected to tour that does not have a Central or an Increment Contract will be awarded a Tour Contract. Tour and match fees paid to any England player are the same, with differences in reward being determined by the value of the Central Contract or Increment Contract retainer.