When: December 13 – February 4, 2019 for the Big Bash League; January 6 – February 12, 2019 for the inaugural ILT20.
As a result of overlapping schedules between the Big Bash League (BBL) and International League (ILT20) in UAE, Cricket Australia (CA) has reportedly offered AUD 700,000 deals to 15 top Australian players. In order for Australian players to participate in both tournaments, the Big Bash League is planned from December 13 to February 4 and the ILT20 from January 6 to February 12 respectively.
Some 15 Australian players have been offered contracts paying up to AUD 700,000 annually to leave the Big Bash League and play in the UAE Twenty20 event in January, according to a Sydney Morning Herald article. A majority of the top Australian players are exempt from participating in the BBL as a result of their current central contracts, and Warner hasn’t participated in the league since 2014.
D’arcy Short received the largest draft-related payout in the BBL thus far, at $258,000 (around AUD 370,000). This is a pittance compared to the IPL’s high-profile payments to Australian players.
Indian IPL owners are investing in T20 leagues in UAE and Canada, which will require a major overhaul of the BBL’s pay structure if it wants to retain top talent.
“The extent of the attempted raid on Australian players extends much beyond the possibility of losing one player – David Warner – to the UAE because he does not have a BBL deal,” according to Australian publications ‘The Age’ and ‘The Sydney Morning Herald.’ “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,” the paper reported. CA, on the other hand, is reportedly eager to sign Warner to a hefty one-time agreement in order to preserve the lustre and quality of BBL, preventing him from accepting the ILT20 offer.
CA’s chief executive Nick Hockley and his player union counterpart Todd Greenberg have been fielding innumerable calls from players regarding the offers,’ SMH claimed.
According to Greenberg, “I do know CA have to stay within the wage cap guidelines for any player and that includes Dave (warner).”
“But it is abundantly evident that they need to make the best deal they can think of in order to retain him here. It is important to strike a balance between trying to ensure that you are attracting your finest players and ensuring that there is some equality in the system and the model, so that all of them have the chance to perform and are compensated in a manner that is commensurate with their performance.”
