Anderson, Sidebottom secure contracts

The ECB have released the list of 12 English cricketers who have been awarded contracts until the end of the 2008 domestic season.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney said in a statement “The awarding of 12-month central contracts to two new players, James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom is based on the contribution they have made to the team in recent months and their anticipated level of involvement in international cricket during the next year.

“Jimmy Anderson’s form in both Test and one-day cricket this summer has been impressive and we are also very pleased with the progress Ryan Sidebottom has made following his return to the international team earlier this season.

“Overall, one less 12-month central contract has been awarded than last year. We can, however, recommend the award of six month summer contracts to individual players from next April if performances on overseas tours merit this.”

England Contracted Players
James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Kevin Pietersen, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan