Australia contracts: Smith, Warner, Pattinson return; Mitch Marsh out

Fast bowlers James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile, who were kept out last year even as their careers suffered injury setbacks, made it back to the list, while spinner Adam Zampa, another omission last year, also won back his contract.

Pattinson, 28, last played for Australia in February 2016, before recurring stress fractures kept him on the sidelines. Having undergone surgery, he returned to help his domestic side Victoria regain the Sheffield Shield title, and put himself in line to feature in the Ashes in England later this year.

Marcus Harris, who made his Test debut against India in December last year and has remained prolific with the bat on the domestic circuit, has also been included, indicating that he is firmly in the scheme of things in the longer format.

Mitchell Marsh, who was named Test vice-captain last year but has since fallen out of favour in all formats, was among the unlucky ones left out. Ashton Agar, Matthew Renshaw, Kane Richardson and Billy Stanlake also didn't make the cut.

“We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a versatile group of players who can represent Australia across all three formats over the contract period,” Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said on Monday, 15 April, when he also announced Australia's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 squad.

“Our key criteria focused on selecting a pool of players who are going to help us in our ambition to win the upcoming World Cup and Ashes Series in England, and who can also play the various formats over the course of the Australian summer.”

Contracted players for 2019-20: Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Alex Carey, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa