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Mitch Marsh loses Australian contract

3 minute read

Mitch Marsh is the biggest casualty of Cricket Australia's contract list, overlooked just seven months after being named as co-vice captain of the Test team.

MITCHELL MARSH of Australia during the Fifth Test match in the Ashes Series between Australia and England at SCG in Sydney, Australia.
MITCHELL MARSH of Australia during the Fifth Test match in the Ashes Series between Australia and England at SCG in Sydney, Australia. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Mitch Marsh has lost his Cricket Australia contract less than seven months after being named Test vice-captain, as selectors returned Steve Smith and David Warner back to the country's top 20 players.

Marsh was the biggest casualty of the CA contract list naming on Monday, as Matt Renshaw, Ashton Agar, Billy Stanlake and Andrew Tye also dropped off the list.

Test opener Marcus Harris has been rewarded with his first national contract, while fit-again quicks Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattinson were among the new faces.

"We believe the 2019/20 contract list provides us with a versatile group of players who can represent Australia across all three formats over the contract period," national selector Trevor Hohns said.

"Our key criteria focused on selecting a pool of players who are going to help us in our ambition to win the upcoming World Cup and Ashes Series in England, and who can also play the various formats over the course of the Australian summer."

Incumbent Test batsmen Kurtis Patterson, Joe Burns and Marnus Labuschagne were also overlooked, despite Patterson and Burns both scoring centuries in Australia's last red-ball fixture.

Meanwhile, Marsh's non-selection came after he was named the country's new vice-captain alongside Josh Hazlewood for last year's Test series against Pakistan.

He was subsequently dropped for the home summer with the exception of being called up for the Boxing Day Test, and hasn't played in a one-dayer for his country since last January.

Players not selected on the 20-man list can still be selected to represent Australia.

2019/20 CA men's contracts: Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Alex Carey, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

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