Ask any young Australian cricketer what their ambitions are and most will still tell you that it is to wear the baggy green cap. Which is how it should be.
That baggy green Australian cap has been worn by some remarkable cricketers, some great characters, and a few whose names may escape us, but for whom the honour can never be taken away.
Of course prior to 1971 there was only Test cricket. Now today’s cricketers have the option of playing Test Cricket, One Day Internationals and T20; the latter was we were told when it came on the scene never to be taken seriously. Yet now T20 dominates the cricket calendar.
From September 2019 to April 2020 there were 29 Test matches played, 78 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 145 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in the men’s game alone. There were 23 Women’s One Day Internationals (WODIs) and 61 Women’s Twenty20 Internationals scheduled to be played during this period. Unfortunately as the Covid Pandemic started to impact the world many had to be cancelled. The Australia Women’s tour to South Africa in March 2020 became the first major international series not to go ahead as planned due to coronavirus.
There is a great deal of cricket played now if you are at the top of your game. This comes at a price not only to the players but also to the fans, and the game below the international level.
With players centrally contracted to the national governing body often many of the International players are no longer seen playing for their state teams, and if they do play it may be restricted to one or two games a year. As for them going back and playing grade cricket, which was the norm in the late 1980’s early 1990’s there is even less chance of that.
It is understandable that the national body, if they are paying the players salary want the players to be available when required and in peak condition. What is also understandable is that if these international players have come through the Cricket Australia Academy they want these players to succeed. They want a return on that investment.
Some will argue that where the academy system is flawed is when players who may have been identified as having talent and are given a place to develop their game, then have an expectation attached to them that they will achieve. Some being given more opportunities than a non-academy player as a justification for the time and money spent on that individual player. Unfortunately that player may have reached the limit of the capabilities, they may also have lost that desire that is so important to go that extra step. Yet because of the investment and expectation they themselves do not know how to step off the conveyor belt they have been placed on, and the powers that be who selected them are determined to prove that their selection was correct.
That aside cricket is facing a precarious situation that needs to be addressed and yet nobody seems to want to start the conversation. The Australian players stuck in India following the abrupt end to the Indian Premier League due to the horrific scenes caused by Covid in India, and the Australian government stopping the arrival of flights from India for a set period may however bring the situation to a head.
Many of Australia’s top players, those in the current International squads and some of the periphery are in demand in various competitions across the cricketing globe.
Many of these players have been developed through the Cricket Australia system, or their equivalent state body. While those who have developed them as players take pride in the system that has seen them rise to the top, and no doubt want the individuals to succeed, some are beginning to become a little disheartened at how quickly some players are forgetting where they came from.
Here is scenario number one, a Cricket Australia contracted player heads overseas in the rest period for those on Cricket Australia contracts, to play in a lucrative competition. They pick up an injury, return to Australia and expect the cricket Australia staff to manage that injury. Is that right?
While Cricket Australia understandably want to protect their investment should they be the ones to be footing the bill for such treatment? If the injury occurred in the player’s own time at a tournament that they chose to play in outside the control of Cricket Australia, surely they should be responsible for their own treatment? Is this money well spent on Cricket Australia;’s part?
Another situation that is believed to have occurred was a player who was playing in the IPL requesting more time off from Cricket Australia, as they ‘needed a break from Cricket and to be able to spend some time with their family.’ In this instant it is claimed that Cricket Australia advised the player that they gave them time off, and that it was their choice what they did with that time. If they wished to play in another competition that was their choice. If they wanted additional time off maybe they should reconsider whether they still wished to be part of the national team.
The cancellation of the IPL due to the Covid Pandemic in India has opened a can of worms for many international players. First of all there was the issue of the players returning home to Australia, after the country closed its borders to people who had been in India; it is due to re-open after May 15.
Some were jumping up and down claiming that the Government had a responsibility to bring these players home. Yet the Covid Pandemic was known when theses players and coaches left to go an participate in the IPL. There are many more Australian citizens who are stuck in India who want to return, who did not head there once the Pandemic was known, but have been there since before its spread. Surely they should be the priority?
The organisers of the IPL are now looking to try and re-schedule the tournament. There is talk of moving it to England. However there appears to only be one window of opportunity to hold it, a six-week period before this year’s T20 World Cup. If they opt for these dates England and Australia players will be asked to choose between their national team commitments and the huge money on offer in the IPL. These centrally contracted players will be required for their national team programs to prepare for the T20 World Cup and also the upcoming Ashes series. In addition Australia is due to tour the West Indies in June and July, and also play Sri Lanka at home before the T20 World Cup.
If a player opts for the IPL, will Cricket Australia chase compensation on the player looking to terminate their contract with the national body?
One feels that Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board need to look at this situation and plan for the future. A program similar to the United States PGA Golf needs to be created. Something that we advocated eleven years ago in Money Needed to Make The Sporting World Go Around and again four years ago in Subsidising Youth Is The Way Forward.
With Government support of sport bound to be heavily reduced as they struggle to pay off the debt as a result of the Pandemic, sports need to start taking control of their own destiny. Imagine if Cricket Australia had made those players they developed who are now involved in the Indian Premier League agree to give 1% of their earnings back to Cricket Australia, to help cover the investment the body made in them, and to ensure the next generation receive the same coaching, how much money they would have in the pot? From Pat Cummins IPL salary alone that would be AUD31,000. If they asked for a 5% return that would give them $155,000, which would still leave a player like Pat Cummins just under $3million. Is it really too much to ask?
As fees go up in junior sport across the country the resentment is growing seeing players developed through that same system earning such huge sums of money and the clubs, and programs that produced them reaping no benefit. Now we are also seeing the players burning out due to too much money as they look to earn extra by playing in these T20 competitions. Some, as we saw with Chris Gayle turning their back on representing their country and chasing the cash. That is all very well, but surely just like a student who gains a university degree which increases their earning power, there needs to be some similar form of payback from the successful players to ensure that the development program continues?
It would appear that for many of today’s cricketers the ‘greenback’ means more than the baggy green. While it will always be hard to fight such a situation it is important that the privilege and prestige of wearing that cap remains, and it is unfortunately becoming essential that those given that honour give back to those who are following them.
