'Millionaires' Cook and Co. get new central contracts ahead of winter Ashes

England captain Alastair Cook has reportedly signed a 12-month central contract worth almost a million pounds, along with a team of eleven core players, including star batsman Kevin Pietersen, who will head to Australia on Wednesday to prepare for the first leg of their winter Ashes tour.

Experienced players on the top band of the Lord's pay scale who play Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 will be nudging one million pounds-a-year under the incremental agreement which will run until October 2019, finally giving them wage parity with their Australian counterparts.

According to the Mirror, the central contracts, a result of discussions between the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), resulted in a net pay rise of up to 30 per cent.

Congratulating the players, national selector Geoff Miller, who will stand down after this winter's Ashes series, said that youngster Joe Root is the newest addition to the list of players awarded a central contract, adding that it reflected the important role he has played since making his international debut last year.