Big Indian dollars threaten New Zealand cricket as player exodus continues
Posted by Hamish McBrearty on March 3rd, 2008
ICL, ICC, IPL, BCCI, cricket’s version of alphabet soup comes served with a side of confusion as India’s big money power struggle threatens international cricket.
For a time the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) was viewed as little more than an annoyance for New Zealand Cricket as the only players it was signing were either retired or unlikely to get an international recall. The signing of top paceman Shane Bond and out of form, but not out of the international selection picture batsman Lou Vincent changed all that.
On the topic of Vincent, why has New Zealand Cricket not sued him for breach of contract? Issuing press releases saying how disappointed they are in his decision to join the ICL while ripping up his contract will do little to discourage other players from doing the same thing.
Now New Zealand cricket finds itself under assault on two fronts with big money offered by the BCCI and ICC endorsed Indian Premier League (IPL) to current players to play just 44 days of the year. New Zealand has five players contracted to the IPL, all of them earning considerably more than their contracts with New Zealand Cricket.
A new sponsorship deal with Sony has allowed NZC to raise top players’ salaries, to NZ$174,000 plus match fees which is high by New Zealand standards, but still pales in comparision to the money being offered in India. Black Caps’ wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum will be the highest paid Kiwi in the IPL, making US$700,000, or roughly five times what he will make while playing for the national team.
Players, such as Andrew Symonds, are now deciding to take the big money on offer in India rather than tour with their national teams. For smaller countries like New Zealand this is even more worrying, as they simply cannot compete with the amounts of money on offer, and the loss of players could dilute the already shallow talent pool.
Many former Black Caps have been critical of NZC for allowing their players to commit to the IPL which clashes with the early stages of their tour to England, leaving the Black Caps without their captain Daniel Vettori, vice captain McCullum and senior players Jacob Oram and Scott Styris. However, former captain Martin Crowe pointed out that this senario is not yet a done deal and CEO Justin Vaughan could require those players to make themselves available for the national team.
Much like World Series Cricket in the 70s, India’s two big money leagues pose a threat to international cricket, as both offer players more money for less time away from home. The question for international cricket now, will these leagues detract from the international arena, or will the injection of cash elevate the game to the next level.
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The Big Indian dollars threaten New Zealand cricket as player exodus continues by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
