Ramprakash and Stewart Miss Out

Mark Ramprakash and Alec Stewart were the major omissions when England announced their list of 11 players awarded central contracts for the 2002 season today.

Ramprakash failed to impress on tour in India and Zealand, averaging just 15.40 in the last three Tests. However, the 32-year-old had also failed to secure a contract last year before breaking back into the England side for the Ashes and scoring a century at The Oval.

Wicketkeeper Stewart, who turned 39 this week, was contracted last year but has lost out to 21-year-old James Foster after opting to take a break rather than tour India earlier this year.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney, though, insisted that Stewart's international career was not an at an end. "The situation has been explained to Alec Stewart and I can confirm that he will not be excluded from future discussions regarding team selection," he said. "We have been very happy with James [Foster's] efforts over the winter."

Graveney said the entire contracting system would soon be coming under review. "The selectors understand that budget constraints mean that ECB cannot grant more than 12 Test contracts for the forthcoming summer," he said.

"However, we are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the consistency of selection and the improved team ethos that we have achieved over the last couple of years working within this constraint and we are keen to see an increase in the number of contracted players as soon as possible.

"Both Duncan Fletcher and I look forward to meeting senior representatives of the ECB to discuss our aspirations for the future with regard to the contracting system."

John Carr, the ECB's director of cricket operations, said such an enlargement was likely to come into place after this season. "The International Teams Management Group is fine-tuning a paper recommending this change for implementation from September 2002," he said.

The current contracts cover England's three-Test series against Sri Lanka and the four-Test series against India this summer.

Contracted players: Nasser Hussain (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Michael Vaughan, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Ashley Giles, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, Matthew Hoggard.