Cricket Australia announces central contract list: Stoinis, Tim David miss out deal; Konstas bags maiden deal

Cricket Australia on Tuesday named its 23-player national men’s contract list for the 2025-26 season, with big names missing from the star-studded list. Marcus Stoinis and Tim David, two key figures in Australia’s T20 World Cup plans, have been left out once again, despite their continued presence in the white-ball setup.

The pair join Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie, and Todd Murphy as the most notable absentees, in what appears to be a shift towards a more Test-focused contract structure.

On the other hand, Sam Konstas, Beau Webster, and Matthew Kuhnemann have all been rewarded after strong international performances. Konstas and Webster made a mark during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while Kuhnemann, despite playing through a broken thumb, was outstanding in Sri Lanka.


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Despite being a fixture in Australia’s T20 squad, Stoinis and David have not been offered contracts. Stoinis, who recently retired from ODIs, remains a key player in the shortest format but has now been left off the central list for another year. Tim David, despite playing enough matches to have earned an upgrade last season, is also missing.

The list of players, as it appears, is a focus on Test cricket as Australia is set to play the Big World Test Championship finale and Ashes this cricketing season.

Abbott, Hardie, and Murphy dropped

All-rounders Sean Abbott and Aaron Hardie, along with spinner Todd Murphy, have also been axed from the contracted group. Murphy, who was long considered Nathan Lyon’s successor, has now been overtaken by Matthew Kuhnemann, who impressed with 16 wickets on Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka.

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For Hardie, the return of Cameron Green and Mitch Marsh has created a crowded all-rounder department, while Abbott’s absence comes as a surprise, given his versatility across formats.

Beyond the central omissions, several white-ball players who have featured extensively for Australia have also been left out, including, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, Tanveer Sangha, and Ben Dwarshuis – all of whom were part of Australia’s Champions Trophy squad.

Cooper Connolly – made his debut across all three formats but was not given a deal.

Here's the full list of Australian cricketers awarded the 'big' deal

1. Pat Cummins,
2. Steven Smith
3. Josh Hazlewood
4. Mitchell Starc
5. Travis Head
6. Glenn Maxwell
7. Usman Khawaja
8. Josh Inglis
9. Marnus Labuschagne
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Mitchell Marsh
12. Jhye Richardson
13. Lance Morris
14. Matt Short
15. Beau Webster
16. Scott Boland
17. Xavier Bartlett
18. Alex Carey
19. Nathan Ellis
20. Cameron Green
21. Sam Konstas
22. Mathew Kuhnemann
23. Adam Zampa