Allrounder Daniel Sams has opted not to take a state contract with New South Wales to explore further opportunities in the T20 franchise world.
Sams, who plays for Sydney Thunder in the BBL, has had 10 T20Is for Australia, the most against England shortly before last year's World Cup, and is currently with Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL where he has yet to make an appearance. He will join Essex for the T20 Blast and return to Trent Rockets for the Hundred.
He made five Marsh Cup one-day appearances for NSW last season but has not played first-class cricket since 2018. Sams' decision follows Kane Richardson's omission from Queensland's contract list.
"When he's in the state he will still be invited to train and participate on our white-ball program," new head coach Greg Shipperd said. "The door is never shut for anyone in his position and with his talent."
A player going in the opposite direction is allrounder Chris Green who has previously been considered a T20 specialist but was named NSW's Sheffield Shield player of the season for 2022-23. He claimed 20 wickets and scored 290 runs in six matches including nine wickets on his first-class debut.
As previously announced, Jackson Bird has signed for the state from Tasmania while top-order batter Blake MacDonald and pace bowler Ross Pawson have earned their first contracts.
MacDonald scored a half-century on his Shield debut in the final game of last season against South Australia having earlier made an unbeaten 177 against West Indies for a combined NSW and ACT XI.
Joel Davies, who was Australia's Under-19 captain last season, has been handed a rookie contract and joins his brother Ollie at the state.
"With the additions of Jackson and Chris we get some experience from guys with well documented credentials," Greg Mail, NSW's chief of cricket performance, said. "Both Blake and Ross have deserved their contracts through sheer weight of runs and wickets at Premier Cricket and Second Xl level. Their contracts show that when players consistently perform at that level, we will look at those performances positively.
"Joel Davies is a very talented young player with a high ceiling in the game. He is a genuine allrounder who is also a brilliant fielder and leader and someone we are very excited to see develop further."
Trent Copeland (retired) and Mickey Edwards (moved to the UK) drop off the list while Sean Abbott is added to those with a CA deal. Batter Lachlan Hearne was not offered a contract, while rookie Liam Doddrell also missed out with the number of contracts available reduced under the new MOU.
It was confirmed on Sunday that Greg Shipperd would be the new coach of the NSW men's set-up.
New South Wales men's contracts 2023-24 Sean Abbott (CA), Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins (CA), Joel Davies (R), Oliver Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Ryan Hackney, Ryan Hadley, Liam Hatcher, Josh Hazlewood (CA), Moises Henriques, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon (CA), Blake Macdonald, Blake Nikitaras, Jack Nisbet (R), Kurtis Patterson, Ross Pawson, Will Salzmann (R), Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Lachlan Shaw (R), Steven Smith (CA), Mitchell Starc (CA), Chris Tremain, Hunar Verma (R), David Warner (CA), Adam Zampa (CA)
CA = Cricket Australia, R = Rookie contract