Johannesburg : Australian openers Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns are among seven new players to be included in the list of central contract for 2016-17 after the retirement of a number of key players.
Besides them, Adam Voges, Nathan Coulter-Nile, John Hastings, Peter Nevill and Peter Siddle have also earned place in the 20-man list.
Reflecting on the new inclusions, national selector Rod Marsh insisted that there was a lot of talent in the group and believes the selected players would prove to be beneficial in all the formats of the game.
Pointing out at a number of high-profile retirements, Marsh said that the chosen players would provide the perfect blend of youth and experience within the team.
According to Sport24, Khawaja, who had displayed brilliant form in all the three formats, is likely to get one million Australian dollars from the new contract.
The list of Cricket Australia ‘s contracted players for 2016-17 is as follows:
George Bailey, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, James Pattinson, Adam Voges, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.(ANI)