Surrey’s Sam Curran handed first England contract

Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran, 20, has been awarded his first England contract.

Curran, who made his Test debut against Pakistan in June before being named Player of the Series after England’s 4-1 series victory over India this summer, gets one of the 10 coveted Test match contracts.

But, controversially, no opening batsmen has been handed a Test contract for 2018-19 by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Following the decision of the former England captain, Alastair Cook to retire from international cricket, there is a big vacancy at the top of the order which needs to be filled.

Cook’s latest opening partner Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings has missed out on a deal, while Surrey’s Rory Burns had pressed his case by scoring 1,359 runs in this year’s County Championship – 270 runs more than any other batsman.

Jason Roy and new Surrey signing Liam Plunkett retain their places in the list of white-ball England contracts.

Tom Curran, Sam’s older brother, is the only player in last week’s announcement to be handed an incremental central contract by England, which will earn him a flat fee on top of his salary for Surrey.

Test specialists and those playing in all forms of the game have their salaries paid in full by the ECB. Those on white-ball contracts receive a supplement in addition to their county salary.

Under the structure, players in both formats will receive a ranking based on their performances on the pitch, as well as a number of other factors, including off-field contribution, fielding and fitness. Those rankings will then correlate with the level of remuneration.

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Rory Burns topped the supporters’ poll for Surrey’s Player of the Season, while Ollie Pope picked up the Surrey CCC Supporters’ Club’s awards for Young Player and Most Improved Player of the 2018 season. The top three in each category of the Supporters’ Club voting were as follows:

PLAYER OF THE SEASON

1st – Rory Burns

2nd – Morne Morkel

3rd – Rikki Clarke

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE SEASON

1st – Ollie Pope

2nd – Amar Virdi

3rd – Sam Curran

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON

1st – Ollie Pope

2nd – Sam Curran

3rd – Will Jacks and Amar Virdi

ANN MILLINGTON-JONES WOMAN CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

1st – Nat Sciver

2nd – Lizelle Lee

SYLVESTER CLARKE RUM MOMENT

1st – Will Jacks’ catch at short-leg catch to give Surrey a thrilling 6-run victory against Lancashire

2nd – Ryan Patel’s 6 wickets for five runs against Somerset at Guildford.

3rd – Morne Morkel hitting the winning runs at Worcester, which confirmed Surrey as County Champions 2018

ANNE BICKERSTAFF 2ND XI CHAMPAGNE MOMENT OF THE SEASON (nominated by Debbie Beesley, Surrey’s 2nd XI scorer)

1st – Jake Dunford going in to bat to face the last ball of the 2nd XI Trophy match v Hampshire at the LSE, with two needed to win, ramping Rhys Topley over the keeper, dropping his bat, falling over and still getting two runs to win the game!

2nd – Nick Welch’s unbeaten 175 in the three-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Rockhampton, in the Second XI Championship

3rd – Chris Green’s 155 in the 314-run victory over Sussex at New Malden