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New South Wales bowler Stuart Clark has been rewarded for his fine performances in the 3-0 Test whitewash of South Africa by being named on Monday as one of Australia’s 25 contracted players for the next 12 months.

Clark took 20 wickets and the man of the series award during last month’s triumph and joins Queensland paceman Mitchell Johnson and New South Wales batsman Phil Jaques as first time recipients of a contract from Cricket Australia (CA).

Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said he was confident that the squad was ready for more success ahead of their bid to recapture the Ashes later in the year.

“We are very pleased with the balance of the list,” he said in a statement. “There are some very experienced players amongst the group along with some younger players who have performed very well at domestic level,” he added.

Jason Gillespie, Damien Martyn and Michael Kasprowicz, all discarded after Australia lost the Ashes series to England last year, have been rewarded with fresh deals while Cameron White, Mick Lewis and James Hopes have been cut from the list.

There was also no room for opening batsman Mark Cosgrove and seamer Brett Dorey, who both featured in the 3-0 ODI victory, which Australia completed in Bangladesh on Friday. Contracted players: Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Daniel Cullen, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne and Shane Watson.

Source:The News

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