Steal Key has acknowledged that England players without central contracts are sacrificing “enormous” amounts of money in terms of future earnings by refusing franchise agreements to enter bilateral international competitions.
With numerous players unavailable due to test service in New Zealand or after choosing to play in the Pakistan Premier League, an England team head to Bangladesh this week for a short cue ball trip that includes three ODIs and three T20Is and starts in March. 1.
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We can’t make our strongest team play every game: Rob Key
England men’s cricket managing director Rob Key has also claimed that players without a contract are receiving “life-changing amounts of money” that far exceed the costs of the tour and matches provided by the ECB.
“At the moment, we cannot physically bring our strongest team to every game England plays.” Rob Key told Wisden Cricket Monthly during a lengthy interview.
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“The other thing that comes, and it’s already here, really, is the cost; the difference between what they are paid in England and what they are offered all over the world.
“You’re talking about $500,000 or $600,000 for a few weeks of work, in some cases. If you don’t have a central contract, the difference is huge. There’s not a single person in the world that really sits there and says, ‘you know what, I don’t care about that kind of money.’ You’re talking about life-changing amounts of money.
“These are the next things we have to negotiate. This is what the game has to test and figure out what it’s going to do. And I, at the moment, do not know the answer. These things have happened almost overnight. This always came, but it wasn’t until these two leagues in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, where the money skyrocketed, went up, that now it started to get really competitive.”
Only a few England players without central contracts have recently competed in non-IPL T20 leagues earning the money Key mentioned, but Alex Hales, Sam Billings and Liam Dawson, who has since returned home due to injury, opted for not participating in the upcoming tour of Bangladesh to honor their most lucrative PSL contracts.
This winter, over 60 Englishmen have taken part in foreign short-form tournaments, with the Abu Dhabi T10, BBL, ILT20, SA20, BPL and PSL proving to be popular venues. Some athletes, like Tom Kohler-Cadmore, participated in three different leagues over the course of ten days.
Lucky our summer doesn’t run alongside these leagues: Rob Key
In other news, Moeen Ali, Billings and Luke Wood were quickly booked for the knockout rounds of the Bangladesh Premier League, while according to ESPNcricinfo, another English player without a central contract turned down a $100,000 offer to enter the competition last week.
The English Cricket Board (ECB) has recently urged young players to join franchise leagues, seeing an advantage over their competitors over most Test nations due to most of them taking place during the winter. English.
“We are lucky: our summer does not run alongside these things”, Rob Key said. “If you’re in Australia, your domestic players will be brought into these leagues that are running at the same time.
“The global game, the international game, has to really think and come together about what it’s going to do to make sure there’s meaning to the cricket we play. That’s the key: it’s not just about money, we need the meaning to be there for people to want to play. [international cricket].”
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