The International League (ILT20) in UAE has reportedly offered 15 top Australian players a whopping AUD 700,000 deals to skip the Big Bash League (BBL), dates of which are covered, causing impressive pressure on Cricket Australia’s position.
The International League (ILT20) in UAE has reportedly offered 15 top Australian players a whopping AUD 700,000 deals to skip the Big Bash League (BBL), dates of which are covered, causing impressive pressure on Cricket Australia’s position.
The Big Bash League is started from December 13 to February 4 while the first season of the ILT20 will be played from January 6 to February 12, making it essentially impossible for Kangaroos to participate in both competitions.
According to a report in Sydney Morning Herald,
“As many as 15 Australian players have been offered contracts worth up to AUD 700,000 a year to abandon the Big Bash League and play in the UAE Twenty20 tournament in January.”
A large portion of the top Australian players does not commit to playing BBL under their current focal agreement, with David Warner not having played a single edition since 2014.
The BBL’s highest payment to date from the draft has been D’arcy Short’s $258,000 (AUD 370,000) and the money compared to what has been paid to marquee Australian players in IPL, has been significantly lesser.
According to Australian newspapers, The Age’ and ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ by senior cricket sources,
“the scale of the attempted raid on Australian players goes far beyond the threat of losing one player – David Warner – to the UAE because he does not have a BBL deal.”
The paper also revealed:
“UAE contract sizes so far above and beyond what has been on offer in the BBL have placed Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association under pressure to reassure players that they are not being left behind the rest of the world by remaining loyal to the game in this country.”
“While CA is in talks with Warner about finding a way to get him back into the BBL this summer, the governing body’s chief executive Nick Hockley and his player union counterpart Todd Greenberg have been fielding countless calls from players about the offers,’
SMH further reported.
Greenberg hopes that Australian players are not “mercenaries” and would eventually take an informed and mature decision.
“They do have this genuine sense of care about the game – if they didn’t, they would be mercenaries and take what’s in front of them.
“But they’re not, they’re taking a mature, considered approach to this and trying to be part of the solution. This comes down to establishing trust with your players and the relationships you develop with them,”
Greenberg said.
“I do know CA have to stay within the salary cap principles for any player and that includes Dave (warner),”
Greenberg said.
“But they’ve got to try to make the best offer they can to keep him here. It’s a balance of trying to make sure you’re attracting your best players and there’s some equity in the system and the model so that all of them have the opportunity to play and are remunerated accordingly.”