England’s Smith earns first central contract

Linsey Smith of Hampshire is one of 17 players to have signed full England women’s central contracts between 2025 and 2026.

Smith, 30, has played in 34 one-day and T20 internationals for England, earning her first central contract.

Em Arlott and Emma Lamb, both of whom have two years of experience, have received their first contracts.

England’s women have decided not to extend any of their players’ two-year contracts, a change from last year and their male counterparts have.

Ten players have signed new one-year contracts, and seven others are extending their current terms.

Bowler Kate Cross, 34, made the announcement in September that she would lose her entire deal and that she would be the only player to do so.

Cross had “years of extraordinary service” to the women’s game, according to Clare Connor, managing director of England women, and that “none domestic cricket player ever has their door wide open.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has a skill contract, which effectively places them between a domestic contract and a central contract, to manage the workload and development of those players.

The T20 World Cup will be held in England after South Africa defeated them 125 runs in the semi-finals in October.

The awarding of these contracts, according to Connor, “reflects our confidence in this group of players with our collective focus firmly on winning the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil next summer,” he said.

Tammy Beaumont (The Blaze), Maia Bouchier (Hampshire), Alice Capsey (Surrey), Lauren Filer (Durham), Mahika Gaur (Lancashire), Danielle Gibson (Somerset), Sarah Glenn (Yorkshire), Freya Kemp (Hampshire), and Linsey Smith (Hampshire) have all signed new one-year contracts.

Analysis – Matthew Henry, a journalist for BBC Sport

This appears to be a predictable announcement, on the surface. The difficult decision to leave Cross was already known, but everything is still yours.

However, it’s interesting that no England player will be signed on a multi-year deal.

The women’s game was last year praised for its two-year contracts as a last-ditch effort to combat the growing threat of franchise cricket.

The younger generation could have benefited from contracts held by companies like Sciver-Brunt, Knight, Ecclestone, Jones, and Wyatt-Hodge, which were both held by older people. No offers of this nature were made.

This is in part due to a generation’s career transition in the last stages. Why offer a player a multi-year contract if they could leave after the T20 World Cup in their home country next summer?