England to make £500k contribution to cricket amid virus lockdown
ENGLAND men’s centrallycontracted players will make a contribution of £500,000 to the England and Wales Cricket Board and selected good causes, the Professional Cricketers’ Association has announced.
Players are to forego the equivalent of 20 per cent of their retainers for the next three months in order to fund the gesture.
Additionally, centrallycontracted members of the women’s team have announced a voluntary reduction in their salary for April, May and June in line with those taken by coaches and support staff.
The announcement comes after several days of discussions over how the country’s leading cricketers might respond to the pandemic.
The agreement was reached during talks between members of the England team on Friday, with the possibility of further action to come.
A PCA statement said: “The players will continue to discuss with the ECB the challenging situation faced by the game and society as a whole and will consider how best to support the ECB and both the cricketing and wider community going forward.”
The details of the charitable donation are to be determined over the next week.
England women’s captain Heather Knight said: “All the players felt like it was the right response in the current climate to take a pay cut in line with what our support staff are taking.
“We know how the current situation is affecting the game and we want to help as much as we can. We will be discussing with the ECB further ways we can help the game.”