Pay concerns for domestic cricketers

[Chandan]

LINK November 15, 2010 Posted by Aakash Chopra in Indian domestic cricket Pay concerns for domestic cricketers At last, the much deferred and overdue fee hike for India’s Test Players has finally happened, that too three times its present amount. For one, the move was imperative to make playing Test Cricket as lucrative as possible, so as to ensure that players like Cheteshwar Pujara with solid technique and temperament don’t sacrifice these attributes for acquiring skills to suit the more rewarding Twenty20 cricket. While a few players have been lucky enough to get this incentive, along with a pay hike in their central contract with the BCCI, a much bigger pool of fringe players has lost out as now there won’t be Grade D to accommodate players like Ajinkya Rahane or Shikhar Dhawan who’re waiting in the wings to prove their mettle. The current list has also been pruned from a whopping 41 to a meagre 24 for this season. The central contracts list, when they were first handed out, made for an elite group of 20 cricketers. But then came the ICL, which organised a player coup of sorts. A lot of domestic cricketers left the BCCI fold and joined the ‘rebel league’. The board was swift to act and increased the number of contracted players with the introduction of Grade D to reward the performances in domestic cricket. It was, in a way, both telling the players that they were in the loop and also giving them much needed financial security. In fact, even the fee for domestic games was increased substantially. But a lot has changed since then; the IPL arrived with a bang and forced the ICL into oblivion. Subsequently, the Grade D contracts disappeared too. The BCCI’s stance with regards to the abrupt trim is that it is an elite club with a restricted entry which must only be earned by sterling performances. But was it not the case always? Or were the contracts handed out to undeserving players earlier? But this cutback has an even bigger impact on the earnings of these domestic performers. Being on the list of contracted cricketers would have ensured their eligibility for auction at the IPL, meaning money based on their market value. But just to add to their woes, their maximum salary was already decided earlier based on the year of their first-class debut and not performances. While some players might still cobble something together with the new order, players like Pankaj Singh and Rahane, perceived inept for the T20 format, might suddenly find themselves in a fix. Now, they would be lucky to get a half-decent deal from a franchise. And if things weren’t already looking sordid enough, the major part of a domestic match fee, which comes from the BCCI’s annual revenues, has also come down massively in the last couple of seasons. It started with a player getting nearly Rs. 37,000 per day which has now been slashed to about Rs. 22,000 thousand. The earnings of domestic players are taking a hit every year, but not many bother, except the players, who’re at the receiving end. Your thoughts? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can we give our thoughts here? Seeing how few of the forummers were accusing Dhoni so vehemently for the demotion of Yuvraj from grade A to grade B, it will be foolhardy for me to expect a sensible response from on this topic. Yet I'm hoping against hope that some of our sensible forummers will come out and give their views here. Was the scrapping of Grade D a mistake? Will it hurt the domestic players badly? Why was the domestic match fee reduced from 37000/day to 22000/day? That is a huge decrease and it'll hurt the players terribly! In other countries like Oz, Eng, SA Central contract is offered to just the elite 20 but the domestic players are also offered contract from their states/counties. No such thing happens in India. How can the domestic cricketers, especially the good ones who are on the fringes, be made more secure finanicially? Any ideas?

[urbestfriend]

I've no qualms in BCCI pruning the players on contract..! Contracted players are selected based on their performance at international or domestic level...If you look at the finer details, all the players who are selected not from contracted list are given grade "C" contact. But it is shocking to know that domestic match fee is reduced to 22K/day. Come on, when BCCI is making huge money , what's the effing logic to cut the match fee? Its better if state boards also offer contracts to domestic players , at least for elite ones at that, to ensure financial security to domestic players

[Chandan]

I've no qualms in BCCI pruning the players on contract..! Contracted players are selected based on their performance at international or domestic level...If you look at the finer details, all the players who are selected not from contracted list are given grade "C" contact. But it is shocking to know that domestic match fee is reduced to 22K/day. Come on, when BCCI is making huge money , what's the effing logic to cut the match fee? Its better if state boards also offer contracts to domestic players , at least for elite ones at that, to ensure financial security to domestic players

I know that any player selected to team India outside contracted ones will be offered a grade 'C' contract on a pro rata basis. But it still doesn't solve the problem of say our pace bowlers on fringes who are trying hard in the domestic circuit to impress and break into the senior league. Trying hard means injuries are just round the corner for a pace bowler. Who will look after his treatment and then his rehabilitation? If we lose out a talented paceman just because he didn't have enough money to get a treatment in Australia or SA, won't it be team India's loss? How can we expect a bowler of say Munaf's background to have enough resources to be treated at the best place? What will happen to players like Rahane, as Akash has pointed out? Quite a number of questions!

[cowboysfan]

this is a dilemma indeed.players like Rahane will never be IPL stars but are integral to our test future but right now they are not in the picture and may not be for 2 to 3 years.its really unfair on them.I would like BCCI to have a Grade D contract or something similar to encourage future indian test prospects.

[ludhianvi]

yeah, the pay decrease is unfortunate. Instead of increasing it, they've actually decreased it. It was only a couple of years ago that it was increased and now we are back to square one again.

[saneindian]

I read somewhere that the BCCI promises 26% of its total earnings to be given back to the players (13% to international players and rest 13% to be divided between domestic players). Not sure what the exact formula is, but I guess it is in a way a copy of the Australian system where again 26% of CA's earning go to the players pool with 13% going to international players and rest 13% divided between domestic players. Now given the fact that Australian domestic structure has only around 140-150 cricketers contracted either to CA or state associations, this kind of a income distribution looks to be ok. But in India we have nearly 23-24 domestic teams and nearly 500 players playing domestic season. Irrespective of the proportion in which domestic players share 13% of BCCI's income, due to such a large pool, not too many players will earn adequate money. Keeping that in mind, not just scrapping the D grade contracts but also the reduction in match fees by the BCCI is not a step in the right direction. Only BCCI can explian why they had to slash the fees by neary 40% when their own earning have been jumping up substantially. A match fee of 26000 per day basically brings the fees back to the 2006-07 levels!! Thats surely depressing to read. For those who don't get an IPL contract, the money through the match fees is the majority income. And to promote performance in domestic cricket, the least a decent ranji player should hope to pocket after a 6-7 months long domestic season is around 15-20 lakhs. That's where a state level contract system should also be looked so that players have a minimum guarantee of 8-10 lakhs.

[Chandan]

Wonder if we can ask BCCI somewhere why the fees have been reduced! Does anyone know of any such email or something?

[Chandan]

How I wish Indian players get a players association. Hope Kumble, Srinath and Ganguly help in setting it up to help their fellow players. It is really necessary.

[urbestfriend]

I know that any player selected to team India outside contracted ones will be offered a grade 'C' contract on a pro rata basis. But it still doesn't solve the problem of say our pace bowlers on fringes who are trying hard in the domestic circuit to impress and break into the senior league. Trying hard means injuries are just round the corner for a pace bowler. Who will look after his treatment and then his rehabilitation? If we lose out a talented paceman just because he didn't have enough money to get a treatment in Australia or SA, won't it be team India's loss? How can we expect a bowler of say Munaf's background to have enough resources to be treated at the best place? What will happen to players like Rahane, as Akash has pointed out? Quite a number of questions!

Usually number of fringe players are very high in domestic circuits and it is not possible to expect BCCI to give central contracts to all of them. Even if "D" grade contracts are given,it is not possible for BCCI to accommodate all the fringe players! So it is better only cream is given contracts by BCCI. To support fringe talents, state boards should've a mechanism to award contracts to some of the better performers of domestic circuit.

[The Outsider]

The best thing to come out of reducing the number of contracted players from 41 to 24 is the fact that a lot more players will now be able to play in the English domestic season. It could really benefit the fringe pace bowlers who were impeded from playing any county cricket last season. At the very least Pathan and RP Singh should be able to find some contracts at least for part of the season.

[Ranjha]

I guess the domestic cricketers need to also hold a part-time job now.