Mark Wood awarded first England central contract
Thursday 24 September 2015 18:56, UK
Durham fast bowler Mark Wood has been awarded his first England central contract by the ECB.
Wood made his Test debut against New Zealand this summer and went on to appear in four of the five Ashes games, taking the final wicket in a win at Trent Bridge which clinched series victory.
He told Sky Sports News HQ: "I'm chuffed to bits. It's a great reward for a long summer's cricket. Result have been good and this is the icing on top of the cake.
"I'm still pinching myself. The whole series was just manic, and I can't believe that moment's happened to me and will go down in history."
Eoin Morgan, the one-day captain, is also awarded a central contract after some fine performances.
Nine other players have had been given new central contracts: Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Joe Root and Ben Stokes.
Gary Ballance, Chris Woakes and fellow all-rounder Chris Jordan have lost their central contracts but are awarded incremental contracts along with Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and James Taylor.
Ballance was dropped from the Test team this summer, whilst Woakes and Jordan missed much of the season because of injury.
ECB's Director, England Cricket Andrew Strauss said: "We congratulate Mark Wood on winning a central contract for the first time. This award reflects his excellent performances for England this summer and our expectation that he will have a role to play in all three formats of the international game over the next 12 months.
"Eoin Morgan's award reflects his status as captain of our limited overs teams and the wider importance we place on white-ball cricket as we prepare for a busy period of T20 and One-Day International cricket over the next twelve months including the World T20 tournament in India next year. "
