 Onions last played for England in the third Test in South Africa in January |
Injured England seam bowler Graham Onions has been dropped from the England and Wales Cricket Board's list of centrally contracted players. Onions has not played since suffering a back injury while on tour in Bangladesh in March, and has undergone surgery. Batsman Jonathan Trott and paceman Steven Finn step up from incremental contracts to full 12-month deals. Meanwhile, Craig Kieswetter, Adil Rashid and Owais Shah have not had their incremental contracts renewed. The central contracts, which are awarded annually, were announced at the same time as the England squad which will defend the Ashes in Australia this winter. Incremental contracts are appearance-based deals. Wicketkeeper Kieswetter, who played in the England side which won the ICC World Twenty20 in May was named in the England performance squad which will tour Australia as back-up to the main squad.  | 606: DEBATE |
Leg-spinner Rashid was surprisingly not named in either squad, despite being a contender for the back-up Ashes spinner's role. Meanwhile, batsman Shah, recently released by county side Middlesex, has not played for England since October 2009 and looks to be out of the international reckoning. Aside from Onions, the other player who had held a full central contract for 2009/10 was seamer Ryan Sidebottom, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket. Hugh Morris, managing director of the England team, said: "Central contracts are designed to reward players who perform well consistently for England. "Jonathan Trott and Steven Finn have made a very significant contribution to the team's recent success in the last year. "I am also pleased to announce that we are finalising our agreement with the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) over the terms and conditions of England players' 12-month central contracts. "These terms are the result of detailed and constructive discussions with the PCA and will now cover a three-year period, which includes two Ashes Test Series and an ICC Cricket World Cup." PCA chief executive Angus Porter added: "We're pleased that following a lengthy but constructive period of discussion, the terms and conditions for central and incremental contracts are close to being finalised. "We are currently drawing up final contracts, and we are confident that these contracts will be signed when they are formally offered on 1 October."
England central contracts:
James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott. Incremental contracts:
Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.
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