Cricket is a gentleman’s game and oozes class and elan in every which way. But since Kerry Packer brought the colors into the game, the gentlemen have been earning quite a handful. In recent times, the game has evolved further with the T20 format coming into the mix and leagues like the IPL reigning supreme. Following the trend, our very own USA has also joined hands with the tycoons to inaugurate Major League Cricket. And now, riding on the back of Saurabh Netravalkar’s heroics, cricket is emerging as a potential new frontier for the US sports realm. 

Sadly, even though cricketers from different regions of the world are earning a fortune, the USA national team is not. Their salaries are peanuts compared to even their latest opponent – Pakistan. It’s quite baffling as to how a country like Pakistan, who is reportedly neck deep in debt (81 trillion Rupees) can pay their cricketers more than that of the USA. 

The sorry financial state of the US T20 World Cup heroes

There’s a reason why cricket as a sport is not popular in the US. While digging deep into the problem, it was revealed that the average pay for a cricketer in the US is a mere $24 per hour. According to Glassdoor, the average annual salary a cricketer can earn in America is $60k! These are shocking numbers when compared to nations like India where even an uncapped player earns in millions. While India can be considered a cricketing superpower, the latest contracts of the Pakistani cricketers will surely come as a shock. 

For a country struggling with its economy, the PCB’s latest announcement divided the cricketers into four grades. Grade A will feature players like captain Babar Azam, Md Rizwan, and so on. They will be subjected to a yearly contract of 4.5 million Pakistani Rupees. This boils down to roughly $15,500 per month. In fact, the lowest grade of players in Grade D will earn a whopping 750,000 rupees per month. 

On top of that, the Pakistani cricketers can earn a fortune if they manage to clinch the T20 title this year. As per the announcements of PCB, the board will gift each member of team Babar Azam USD 100,000 provided they bring home the trophy that they have won only once. Well, coming back to the United States, comparing that to the current set of US national team players’ income will feel quite alarming. Especially when there are other jobs paying much more and the cricketers not even having a set contract. 

USA National Team cricketers face a lack of financial security

According to reports, the lowest earner in the current US National Team is $15,080 per year and the highest salary is $90,000 per year. On top of that, most of the cricketers are not even contracted annually by the board. Stars like Netravalkar, Karima Gore, Aaron Jones, and many more only have a three-month contract with the board. What’s even worse is the fact that talents like Ali Khan, Hayden Walsh Jr., and Cameroon Gannon do not have a contract at all. 

Most of the first team players work as full-time professionals like Netravalkar, who works as a Software Engineer at Oracle. Speaking of other jobs, a glance at Indeed.com will reveal several jobs that pay higher than that of a cricketer in the US. For example, a Groundskeeper can earn an annual salary of $36,183, while an accounting clerk and a librarian’s annual pay can go up to $50,618 and $56,415, respectively. Thus, with good times coming for USA cricket, it’s now time for the board to pull up their socks and get into the money game to uplift cricket as one of the leading sports of the United States of America.