Australia's selectors have declared a compressed 18-man central contract list that includes Shaun Marsh and Phil Hughes, but excludes incumbent No.3 batsman Alex Doolan.
Ashes heroes Mitchell Johnson, David Warner and Brad Haddin are the big winners in the contract list announced on Monday afternoon, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
The list of 18 players for the 2014/15 season is a decrease of two, with the bulk coming from the Australian Test side that thrashed England 5-0 in Ashes and South Africa 2-1 in the past five months.
Johnson, Warner and vice-captain Haddin will see their incomes soar into the range of two million Australian dollars a year, a salary likely to be topped only by captain Michael Clarke.
Doolan's omission from the contracted list of players is the most notable one, as the 28-year-old Tasmanian averaged 31 with a top score of 89.
Chairman of the national selection committee John Inverarity said Doolan's time is yet to come, and urged him to perform well to be upgraded.
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Players who miss out on the original list can be upgraded via a system that awards points for Australian appearances, with weighting on Test matches over one-day internationals and Twenty20 games.
Those to have lost contracts in the new round of deals are Matthew Wade, Ed Cowan, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Clint McKay and Patrick Cummins. Usman Khawaja, who was not in the initial contract list of 20 last year but was upgraded after playing during the Ashes series in England, was also overlooked. Another notable omission was rising West Australian all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Contracted players will benefit from an Australian dollar 1.4 million rise in the player payments pool as a result of the Australian dollar 590 million television deal CA struck with Channel Nine and Network Ten last year. The payment pool for the forthcoming season is Australian dollar 14.6 million.
The minimum salary for a CA contracted player this year has increased to 250,000 dollars, while players who are upgraded via appearances will pocket 210,000 dollars. Players stand to earn well in excess of their base contracts when appearance fees, win bonuses and marketing add-ons are taken into account.
Cricket Australia contracted players 2014/15: Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, David Warner, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, George Bailey, Chris Rogers, Nathan Lyon, Phil Hughes, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, James Faulkner and Shaun Marsh.