Poms raking in more cash than Aussie players
THE nation’s best cricketers may take home the Ashes this summer but they cannot win the cash battle with the old enemy.
As cricket’s pay war moved closer to resolution, expected big rises will still leave Steve Smith and his men behind England in a worldwide wage battle. And the gap will only get wider.
The most recent analysis of international cricket wages, by the Federation of International Cricketers Associations, put England’s contracted players ahead of the Aussies in average earnings.
English skipper Joe Root and his national colleagues, ranked fourth in both Tests and ODIs, were listed as collecting an average $1.07 million, based on their retainer with the England and Wales Cricket board plus match payments for Tests, one-dayers and T20 internationals.
The Aussies, third on the ICC Test rankings and the world’s second best one-day team, were close behind, with an average of $1 million for similar output.
The likes of Smith and David Warner make considerably more given Cricket Australia has a tiered system which gives greater rewards to the top-ranked players among the 20 contract holders.
Indian stars like captain Virat Kohli make megabucks off the field and in the Indian Premier League (Kohli earned $2.5 million with Royal Challenger Bangalore this year) but national wages alone ranked behind Australia and England.