Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis among the new faces in Australia's central contract list for 2024-25 season

Cricket Australia have unveiled their contracted list of men's players ahead of the 2024-25 season. Pace bowlers Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis are the new faces along with Matt Short and Aaron Hardie on the list as a blockbuster cricketing year is on the cards.

Ellis, Short and Hardie weren't offered deals the previous cycle but have earned upgrades over the summer, keeping their places on the list. Short and Hardie made their T20I debuts during the series in South Africa last year.

Ellis has been part of touring parties for quite a long time but has dealt with plenty of injuries, of late, as he aims to push his case for the T20 World Cup 2024. Bartlett, who made his international debut against the West Indies, has been quite impressive.

The right-arm seamer snared a pair of four-wicket hauls in the two ODIs against the West Indies and took a couple of wickets on his first T20I appearance during the New Zealand tour.

Ashton Agar, Marcus Harris, Marcus Stoinis, Michael Neser and the retiring David Warner are the ones slipping off the contract list. The names omitted include Tim David, Matthew Wade, Tanveer Sangha and Jason Behrendorff.

Cricket Australia's men's contracted players are Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Jhye Richardson, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

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Australia's men's chief selector addresses additions to the contract list

George Bailey

Chief Selector George Bailey reckons the new additions including Matt Short, Aaron Hardie and Xavier Bartlett are exciting talents and tips them for bright future. Bailey said, as quoted by cricket.com au:

"Matt, Aaron and Xavier have been extremely impressive in the early stages of their international careers. Their performances and the way they have embraced the international stage has been exciting to watch. The panel believes they have strong futures and are deserved of their contracts as they work towards striving to become regulars in the Australian setup."

The T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA and the home Test series against India later in 2024 underscores Australia's massive year across formats.