England players and ECB negotiating over pay cuts as Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Dom Sibley win Test contracts

The ECB are still negotiating with England players regarding the salaries of central-contracted cricketers for 2020-21, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was announced on Wednesday that Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Dom Sibley have been awarded their first England Test central contracts, with Jonny Bairstow dropping off the red-ball list, but the details of remuneration are still under discussion despite the deals commencing on October 1.

The ECB announced this month that it would lay off 20% of its workforce - meaning 62 jobs will be cut - on account of the virus' impact on finances, and Chris Woakes admitted that players could not consider themselves "exempt" from cost-cutting. At the start of the summer, centrally-contracted players donated a combined £500,000 to the ECB and selected charities.

Crawley, Pope and Sibley have all enjoyed a breakthrough year since the appointment of Chris Silverwood as head coach, making their maiden Test hundreds and cementing their spots in the side, while Bairstow has made only one appearance since being awarded a cross-formats deal last year.

Mark Wood remains on a white-ball deal, after playing only three Tests in the last 12 months, while Tom Curran has been shifted up from an increment contract to a full white-ball deal and Joe Denly has lost his white-ball contract.

Despite being ranked the No. 1 T20I batsman in the world by the ICC, Dawid Malan has not been awarded a white-ball central contract, and instead has been handed an increment deal alongside Dom Bess, Chris Jordan and Jack Leach, which sees their county salary topped up by the ECB. Tom Banton and Sam Billings, who featured in the majority of England's white-ball fixtures this summer, remain without deals for this year.

Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton and Olly Stone retain their pace-bowling contracts, after becoming the first three players to be awarded them at the start of this year.

Under the ECB's contract structure, players receive a ranking by format based on their performances, as well as other factors including "off-field contribution, fielding and fitness".