England split cricket coaching setups and hand out record 39 central contracts

The Guardian

Robinson, Duckett and Smith get one-year deals Eric Simons hired as Test fast-bowling coach Rob Key believes he can now “map out the next two years” for the England men’s teams, having handed out a record 39 central contracts and unveiled new split coaching setups under Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum that he hopes will produce homegrown candidates for the top roles in future. The retirements of Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, plus Zak Crawley being dropped, have allowed Key, the England team director, to stretch the pot of money for player contracts further this year. Thirty main deals have…