(Reuters) - England batter Jacob Bethell has been awarded a central contract upgrade, signing a two-year extension until September 2026, the country's cricket board (ECB) said on Wednesday.
Bethell, who made his test debut last week during England's eight-wicket win over New Zealand in Christchurch, has been upgraded from a development contract that the 21-year-old received last month.
Against New Zealand, Bethell scored 10 in the first innings but smashed his maiden half-century in the second innings, helping England take a 1-0 lead in the three-match test series.
The ECB has also handed two-year contract extensions to seamers Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, and Matthew Potts, running until September 2026.
England's two-year central contracts
Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood.
England's one-year central contracts
Rehan Ahmed, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, Chris Woakes.
England development contracts
Josh Hull, John Turner.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
