England, Australia push for test pay boost
Australia and England will lead a push to establish minimum test match payments for all male cricketers when the countries that comprise the International Cricket Council meet in Dubai this week.
The international benchmark is expected to be set at the Australian test fee of about A$20,000 (NZ$21,500) a match as a starting point, which is designed to make test cricket more attractive to current and future generations of players as lucrative Twenty20 leagues lure some of the best talent away from the longer format.
The minimum rate could go as high as the A$27,000 (NZ$29,000) fee that players who represent India currently receive.
Front of mind is exciting youngster Shamar Joseph, who bowled the West Indies to a spectacular win in the last test of the Australian summer in Brisbane two months ago. While Joseph has pledged his future to playing test cricket for the West Indies, there are fears that the Indian Premier League, in particular, will eventually prove too attractive, as it already has for a number of his countrymen.
Cricket West Indies retainers for players range from US$100,000 (NZ$162,000) to US$150,000 (NZ$243,000), with test match payments of US$5000 (NZ$8100), among the lowest in the game. Players of Joseph’s ability and charisma are earning A$1 million or more a year in the IPL.
Cricket Australia retainers average almost A$1 million a year on a sliding scale: captain Pat Cummins is paid A$2m and can earn another A$1m annually in match and tour fees, and from CA’s player marketing pool.
The difference is compounded by the struggling West Indies playing as few as six tests a year. Australia played 22 in the past 15 months, which included an away Ashes series.
Following India’s 4-1 big win over England in theirrecent test series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced a new incentive scheme encouraging their players to prioritise first-class cricket.
The “Test Cricket Incentive Scheme” will pay significant bonuses to those who become regular test players, says BCCI president Roger Binny.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said it was a “step aimed at providing financial growth and stability” for test players.
As part of the payment process, anyone who plays at least 75% of India’s tests in a year will earn an extra A$82,000 a test, and anyone who plays between 50% and 75% of tests annually will earn an additional A$55,000 a test.
This is on top of the country’s fourtier retainer system, which ranges from $183,000 to $1,278,000. On top of that, most leading India players are already wealthy because of significant corporate endorsements and IPL contracts.
South Africa’s sending a third-string squad to New Zealand recently will be on the agenda as part of this enhanced focus on test cricket.
Cricket South Africa administrators were forced to keep all their top-level players at home to play in a new Twenty20 competition run by IPL clubs.