Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) might not have as many as 15 players from their international team after reports suggest that the newly formed International League (ILT20) in UAE is offering these players bumper contracts amounting to AUD 700,000 to ditch the BBL.
The dates of the two competitions are overlapping, and these reports have raised a lot of concern among members of Cricket Australia. While the BBL will be played between December 13 to February 4, the inaugural edition of ILT20 is scheduled from January 6 to February 12.
According to a report in Sydney Morning Herald, "As many as 15 Australian players have been offered contracts worth up to AUD 700,000 a year to abandon the Big Bash League and play in the UAE Twenty20 tournament in January."
Most of the top Australian players have no obligation to play for the BBL under their existing central contracts, with Warner not having played a single edition since the 2014 edition.
Meanwhile, the BBL's highest contract in the ongoing draft has gone to D'arcy Short for USD 258,000 (AUD 370,000). And with Indian Premier League (IPL) owners investing heavily in the UAE and South African T20 leagues, the BBL will need to revamp its pay structure to keep the best players in the business interested.
According to Australian outlets 'The Age' and 'The Sydney Morning Herald' by senior cricket sources, "the scale of the attempted raid on Australian players goes far beyond the threat of losing one player — David Warner — to the UAE because he does not have a BBL deal."
"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 report added.
Deal for David Warner on the cards
Reports also suggest that a deal is on the cards for Warner, who has refused to sign up for a BBL side yet again.
"While CA is in talks with Warner about finding a way to get him back into the BBL this summer, the governing body's chief executive Nick Hockley and his player union counterpart Todd Greenberg have been fielding countless calls from players about the offers,' SMH reported.
But Greenberg feels that Australian players are not 'mercenaries' and would eventually take an informed and matured decision. "They do have this genuine sense of care about the game – if they didn’t, they would be mercenaries and take what’s in front of them. But they're not, they're actually taking a mature, considered approach to this and trying to be part of the solution. This comes down to establishing trust with your own players and the relationships you develop with them," he said.
But he did mention that Australia needs to work on their salary cap, "I do know CA have to stay within the salary cap principles for any player and that includes Dave (warner)."
"But clearly they’ve got to try to make the best offer they can to keep him here. It’s a balance of trying to make sure you’re attracting your best players and there’s some equity in the system and the model so that all of them have the opportunity to play and are remunerated accordingly."
