Nicola Carey declines CA contract as four new players earn deals

An Australian all-rounder has declined a national team contract in a surprise move, as four new players are rewarded with deals.

Australian all-rounder Nicola Carey has turned down an offer to remain a centrally contracted player, as Cricket Australia rewarded four new players with deals.

Carey, who has held a central contract for the past five summers, declined the deal to focus on her training over winter after a frustrating period on the fringes of the national side.

The 29-year-old, who was last week named Cricket Tasmania’s Female Player of the Year, told CA she wanted to remain in Tasmania during the Ashes tour in June-July in a bid to revive her international career with a full pre-season.

After announcing the number of central contracts issued would be increased under the new five-year memorandum of understanding, CA awarded four new players with deals, bringing the total number of contracts up from 15 to 17.

Grace Harris, Kim Garth, Heather Graham and Phoebe Litchfield won their first central contracts, with teenage batting sensation Litchfield, Harris and Garth all named in the squad to tour England this winter.

Nicola Carey has decided to remain in Tasmania this winter to train rather than tour England with the Australia and Australia A sides, turning down a national contract. Picture: Steve Bell / Getty Images

Carey and retired batting great Rachael Haynes dropped off the list.

National selector Shawn Flegler said there was room to reward overlooked players with an “upgrade” if they performed consistently in the coming months, after Harris received a contract this way last season.

“Grace Harris earned an upgrade last season and subsequently played every match throughout the T20 World Cup. She is a multiskilled cricketer who can influence matches with both bat and ball,” Flegler said.

“Kim Garth and Heather Graham have performed strongly at domestic level over the past 12 months and both thoroughly deserve their spot on the list.

“Phoebe Litchfield is a young talent who we believe has a big future. She has built her game upon a very sound technique and we’re confident she can transfer those skills into international cricket.”

After receiving an Ashes call-up last week, exciting batting prospect Phoebe Litchfield has won her first central contract. Picture: Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images

Carey, who would likely have been named in the Australia A side to tour England concurrently with the national team, had CA’s support with her decision, Flegler said.

“Nicola Carey expressed a desire to spend the winter in Tasmania to allow her to utilise a full pre-season at home, focusing on using that time to develop skills in her game to push for international selection in the future,” he said.

“We offered Nic a contract because we believe she is a player of international quality, but we respect her decision to focus on a pre-season program with Tasmania and will continue to support her moving forward.”

Luckless all-rounder Sophie Molineux remains without a central contract, but her state teammate Tayla Vlaeminck was retained by CA as she eyes a return to the side this winter.

“Despite missing a large amount of cricket, Tayla Vlaeminck retains her contract, which enables us to continue to support her on her return to play following a significant foot injury,” Flegler said.

Cricket Australia women’s contract list: Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Meg Lanning, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.