England split cricket coaching setups and hand out record 39 central contracts

Rob Key believes he can now “map out the next two years” for the England men’s teams, having handed out a record 39 central contracts and unveiled new split coaching setups under Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum that he hopes will produce homegrown candidates for the top roles in future.

The retirement of Ben Stokes mid-summer, plus Zak Crawley being dropped, has allowed Key to stretch the pot of money for player contracts further this year. Some 30 main deals have been issued – up from 26 last year - while nine players have been handed development contracts that top up their county pay.

There is a blend of one- and two-year contracts in the main group, with the likes of Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jofra Archer and Jacob Bethell extending terms until the end of 2028. Jordan Cox, a bright spark from the summer, jumps straight into this two-year list, as do rookie seamers Sonny Baker and Henry Crocombe. All-rounders Sam Curran and Will Jacks also get two-year contracts.

But Key is also keen to keep others hungry, with Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith kept to 12 months apiece – a sign of needing to bolt down their Test spots – likewise Ollie Robinson after his remarkable return during the summer. Emilio Gay and Dan Lawrence also get one-year deals, as does Ollie Pope, despite being frozen out of the England XI since midway through last winter’s Ashes.

Asked about Duckett and Smith specifically, England team director Key replied: “Yeah, we debated and deliberated long and hard about those types of things. We feel that this is going to be the thing that gets the best out of those guys.

“In a few other cases, they’re just a longer term bet. You want to make sure you can almost map out the next two years.”

Beyond what is now a super-sized squad that covers all formats – continued control of workloads, albeit with established windows for the Indian Premier League and the Hundred – the coaching teams are settled before Fleming starts his new role as Test head coach in South Africa this winter.

Marcus Trescothick will remain as an assistant coach to the Test side only and in come James Foster and Richard Dawson. Dawson has also been named as “national spin-bowling lead” and will leave his current role at Glamorgan, with Key praising his work at one of the less well-resourced countries.

South African Eric Simons, an ally of Fleming at Chennai Super Kings and once described as “the best in the world” by Stokes, has been hired as the Test fast bowling coach. It ends a run of short-term hires when McCullum was Test head coach, including Jimmy Anderson, David Saker and Tim Southee.

Southee and Jeetan Patel will now solely be part of McCullum’s white-ball staff to give it a strong New Zealand flavour, with Sarah Taylor the one full-time English coach here. Kevin Pietersen will also continue to make guest appearances as a “specialist mentor” as Harry Brook’s side looks to the 2027 World Cup.

But with Jonathan Trott now in charge of the Lions, and Mike Yardy also promoted to an overarching role as “national batting lead” after a summer spent working with the Test side and past experience with the Under-19s, Key sees future head coach candidates emerging from the English game.

“We’ve got the best of what this country has to offer,” said Key. “There is part of a succession plan in there that may or may not happen because you never know what happens in these jobs. But I certainly think there’s a number of coaches that have the potential not only to learn, but go and do the [head coach] job in the future. Richard Dawson would be near the top of that list.”

Before any such vacancy emerges, Dawson will first need to address England’s longstanding issues in the spin department. Shoaib Bashir gets another one-year, despite not featuring during the Ashes or against Pakistan, while Mason Crane and Liam Patterson-White have been handed development deals. Patterson-White, a left-arm finger spinner, may well signpost plans for the Test tour Bangladesh next February.

Fast bowler Brydon Carse goes into the second year of his existing central contract while undergoing a disciplinary with the Cricket Regulator after his brief arrest in Derby in August. Key said he will let the process run its course but doesn’t “see anything to suggest” that Carse will have his England deal ended prematurely.