ISLAMABAD (Sports Desk): England and Warwickshire batter Jacob Bethell has been awarded an England Men’s Central Contract upgrade. The 21-year-old, who made his Test debut last week during England’s first Test victory over New Zealand in Christchurch, has signed a two-year contract running until September 2026. This follows his recent development contract, awarded just last month.
Bethell made an impressive start to his Test career, scoring a maiden half-century in the second innings to help secure England’s win at Hagley Oval. In addition, three of England’s prominent seamers – Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, and Matthew Potts – have all extended their contracts until September 2026.
England Men Centrally Contracted Players 2024/2025 (2 years): Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Matthew Potts (Durham), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Mark Wood (Durham)
England One-Year Central Contracts: Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Jack Leach (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
England Development contracts: Josh Hull (Leicestershire), John Turner (Hampshire).