England stars give up £500k in wages
EnGLand’S top cricketers joined the rush of sports stars last night doing their bit to fight the coronavirus crisis when they pledged £500,000 to the ECB and ‘good causes’.
The collective move by centrally contracted England players to give 20 per cent of their salaries for the next three months came after a meeting convened by the Professional Cricketers’ association (PCa). England women players joined in the pledge to help causes that will be identified by the players over the next week.
The move follows a plea by ECB chief executive Tom Harrison — who has given up 25 per cent of his £719,000 annual salary — for the players to consider a cut in a letter to the PCa that was revealed by
Sportsmail on Tuesday. The delay in the England players responding came because PCa leader Tony Irish urged them not to rush into anything until they knew how much cricket might be played this season. But the players were always likely to respond positively to the crisis.
Ben Stokes reacted angrily on Twitter to suggestions England’s stars had refused to take cuts and earlier in the week odI captain Eoin Morgan said: ‘ We are open to helping in whatever way possible. We want to make an impact. I’m extremely willing to help where I know it will make a difference.
‘no one seems to have any answers on the impact it will have on international cricket, county cricket, but I’m open to absolutely everything. I’m aware of how serious the situation is and aware how everyone will be affected from top to toe within the game and every sport.’
The England players’ collective gesture follows individual moves to help, led by Jos Buttler auctioning his World Cup-winning shirt to help two hospitals.
Sportsmail understands the England coaching, backroom and administrative staff had already had cuts ranging from 10 to 25 per cent imposed on them by the ECB, who are also furloughing non-playing staff including umpires.
That led to a degree of resentment among the support staff that the players were dragging their heels, but those feelings were eased by last night’s news.