Ben Stokes agrees on one-year central contract with ECB; Root and others sign three-year deal

England’s star all-rounder and Test captain Ben Stokes signed a one-year contract extension with the England Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday (Oct 24). The deal comes despite other big-name players signing three-year contracts including Mark Wood, Joe Root, and Harry Brook. The ECB released a list of 18 players on the new contracts but Stokes remained a big absentee, indicating his time with the national team could be coming to an end in the next couple of years.

Stokes signs new deal

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Stokes appears to have kept his options open ahead of the renewal of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) and the ECB next year, which aligns with a new cycle of broadcast rights.

"The landscape of cricket changing" when asked if he had considered whether he would play ODIs beyond the ongoing World Cup. I want to play as much cricket as I possibly can for England," Stokes said last week.

"That's where it is for me. I love representing the badge and I want to do that as long as I possibly can and play as many games as I possibly can."

Stokes has previously claimed that he supports players turning down long-term contracts which could help in securing their professional career. The two-time World Cup winner only recently returned to the national fold of ODI set-up in September having announced his retirement from the format in 2022. He was drafted into the ODI World Cup squad but was not available for the first few matches.

His return though did not go according to plan against South Africa as England suffered their biggest loss in the ODI World Cup by 229 runs. The defeat was their third of the World Cup and has condemned them to the bottom spot in the league. However, with Pakistan losing to Afghanistan their chances of making the last four are still good and a return to form for the England side could them defend their crown.

ECB central contracts, 2023-24

Three years: Harry Brook, Joe Root, Mark Wood

Two years: Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes

One year: Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley

Development contracts: Matthew Fisher, Saqib Mahmood, John Turner

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