The Western Australian Cricket Association has announced the 2014-15 contracted player list for the Western Warriors. Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Marsh are the State’s two Cricket Australia contracted players, with 18 members on full state contracts and five on rookie deals.
The Warriors’ push for local talent has continued with Mount Lawley run machine Tom Beaton and Scarborough medium-fast bowler Andrew Tye earning full contracts, while University and Joondalup teenagers David Moody and Jaron Morgan are included as rookies.
Ex-South Australia captain Michael Klinger has joined the Warriors to replace the retired Marcus North at the top of the order, while Liam Davis, Burt Cockley and Luke Towers all miss out from last season’s contract list. Michael Hogan’s availability as an overseas player under Cricket Australia regulations will be determined over the coming months.
Warriors coach Justin Langer said it was great to retain the core of the youthful squad that reached last season’s Bupa Sheffield Shield final together, which included six players 23 and under.
“Ultimately we’ve kept most of the squad together which is great news,” Langer said. “Hopefully the experience of the past year or so is going to start to bear some fruit over the next couple of seasons.
“Michael Klinger will be a great asset for us. He’s a great leader, hopefully he’ll make plenty of runs, but most importantly his influence as a person around the group will be enormous.”
Western Warriors coach Justin Langer
The Warriors coach was delighted to also award contracts to more promising local talent, which comes on the back of four Western Australian youngsters debuting at Shield level last season.
“There’s no point us talking about promoting club cricket and its importance in our system in WA, if we don’t act upon it,” Langer said. “From that point of view, it’s great to see some young Western Australians coming through local club cricket.”
Beaton, 23, returns to WA’s contracted list after consistent performances at First Grade level, finishing the 2013-14 season with the second most runs at First Grade level having topped the aggregate runs charts in 2012-13.
Tye, 27, was promoted to the Warriors contract list last season after impressing during the RYOBI Cup where he claimed 13 wickets in five matches and performed well in the Toyota Futures League.
Moody is a right-arm fast medium bowler who played for WA’s Under-19s last December. He turns 19 next week and is the nephew of former WA captain and coach Tom Moody.
Morgan, 18, is an aggressive left-handed batsman who represented Australia at this year’s Under-19 ICC World Cup. He made breakthrough centuries at Futures League and First Grade level during the 2013-14 season.
Langer also said the door was far from closed on the playing futures of former Laurie Sawle medallists Davis and Hogan.
“The only reason Liam’s not in there is because he’s had a career-threatening finger injury, because of that we weren’t able to offer him a contract this year,” Langer said. “He’ll need to work out if his finger allows him to play cricket again. If he can get back on the park there’s no reason why he can’t play for Western Australia again.”
On Hogan, who is currently with UK County side Glamorgan, Langer said: “We would love to have him back next year, but we need to work closely with Glamorgan, his manager and Michael. If we can get him back it’d be a great bonus for everyone.”
WESTERN WARRIORS 2014-15 CONTRACTED PLAYER LIST
Cricket Australia Contracts: Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh
Full State Contracts: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ryan Duffield, Marcus Harris, Michael Klinger, Simon Mackin, Mitchell Marsh, Joel Paris, John Rogers, Nathan Rimmington, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Voges (c), Sam Whiteman
Rookie State Contracts: William Bosisto, Hilton Cartwright, Matt Dixon, David Moody, Jaron Morgan
Squad changes
Ins: Michael Klinger (South Australia), Tom Beaton (Mount Lawley), David Moody (University), Jaron Morgan (Joondalup)
Outs: Burt Cockley, Liam Davis, Luke Towers (all delisted), Marcus North (retired), Michael Hogan (availability to be confirmed)
Upgrades: Shaun Marsh (State to CA), Cameron Bancroft, Ashton Turner (both elevated from Rookie to State during 2013-14), Simon Mackin, Joel Paris (both elevated from Rookie to State)
Downgrades: Hilton Cartwright (State to Rookie)
James Buttler
As the editor of Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
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