Multi-Year Contracts Offered to Aussie Players To Swear Off Indian Premier League

Cricket Australia (CA) recently drummed up a bid of multi-year central contracts to Australian key players to lure them away from the lucrative IPL venture. Sunday Morning Herald who have put forth the above claims demonstrated a report where CA’s Executive General Manager of the team Pat Howard approached the players during times when the governing body and the Australian Cricketers Association are lingering on a dispute over a new pay deal for the players.

The exact motive of this movement opted by CA Officials was to keep the players fresh during the times of International off days in April and May when the money making venture IPL shapes up in India every year. The key Aussie players like Australian captain Steve Smith, who currently is the captain of the franchise Rising Pune Supergiant, vice-captain David Warner, who is heading the Sunrisers Hyderabad have been made to be acquainted with this contract. Alongside the pair, are the bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, who get only single year contract. Reciprocally, this multi year contracts received a shocking outcome from the players.

As the reports suggested, the multi year contract seemed nevertheless an underwhelming approach to the players as the initial informal discussion with Howard about the terms of the multi-year deals didn’t sound praiseworthy in the eyes of Aussies. Besides that the only perceived incentive for Aussies missing the IPL was breathing on the guaranteed security for three years which also appeared to be less lucrative as compare to IPL.

It has been already preconceived that if CA gets to prosper their above placed overture, they have to come up with much fruitful incentive approach which could please the star Aussies like Warner, Smith etc. So far their earning capacity ranges around $1 million a year from the IPL Franchise and that too was set to be increased and raised sharply after the new IPL broadcast deal. Recently Warner’s retainer with CA was estimated to be worth $2 million whereas he could easily earn as much as $10 million in the IPL alone over the next three years.

The thin line which has been in the talks nowadays is the injury caused to players like Starc and Hazlewood due to the intensity of the tournament, where the players have to put in double the work. That is the line which precipitate these Aussie players to call off the approaching tour to South Africa.