Pay hike or contract system? All first-class cricketers have is an eerie silence

Express News Service

CHENNAI: On the day Sourav Ganguly took charge as the BCCI president, expectations were big. Hope was in the air. That was the sentiment expressed by many current and former cricketers. In fact, there was a collective sigh of relief when the former India captain spoke about much-needed reforms in an interview to PTI after taking over. 

“We will bring in a contract system for first-class cricketers. We (office-bearers) will ask the new finance (sub) committee to prepare a contract system. It will take about two weeks to assess everything and move forward. There is a lot of work going on,” Ganguly had said then.

It sounded like symphony to current players. Nineteen months on, there is an eerie silence. Leave alone contracts or pay-hike, the BCCI is yet to pay the gross amount that it owes to players since 2018.

On May 29, the BCCI has called for a special general meeting, but interestingly the pay compensation for domestic players is not even part of the agenda. There are indications from a few of the state units that they will push the BCCI to release funds to the players but the house is divided when it comes to issuing contracts to domestic players.

The first question is who will issue them — the BCCI or the state units? 

One of the plans floated was for the state units to hand these contracts to around 20 players in various categories. But there are pros and cons to this move. While state units get enough funds from the BCCI to pay the players on their own, not everyone is impressed with the idea as a separate GST has to be taken care of. Instead, they want the BCCI to pay directly or just increase the pay.

“If you leave it to states, there will be too many complexities,” said Jaydev Shah, the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association. 

“In the current system, the payment goes to the players directly. I agree players are suffering, but what they need now is a revision in the pay structure. The contract system is not appropriate for state units. If I give a one-year contract and he doesn’t play I still have to pay him. The best thing is to increase the match fees which will be uniform to everyone. If a player features in all the matches he gets around `15 lakhs a season. Increase it to 25 lakhs,” he said.

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The contract system might sound new. The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) introduced one way back in 2005/06 itself when Ajay Shirke was heading the state unit. Although it was considered ahead of its time and benefited players, it did have some complications. A few of the players who wanted to play for their employers in corporate tournaments, couldn’t get clearance from the MCA. It didn’t last long.

In 2021, there are still complications involved. Under the current system, players are free to play anywhere unless it coincides with BCCI tournaments. So whether the state units will agree to pay players for a year for just six months of their service is a big question. 

Then there is the funds factor. The BCCI state units used to get around Rs 25-30 crore every year. While this money is sufficient to handle contracts on their own, there are hurdles to be overcome.

Since the Lodha reforms came into place, the number of state units is now 38. As the broadcast revenue has come down recently, the state units fear the BCCI will not be able to give them Rs 25-30 crore now. “The money we get from BCCI is what we use for developing the game, maintaining infrastructure and hosting local tournaments. If the BCCI can afford to allocate the same amount it is possible,” said a veteran administrator.

The low pay scale means some of the player agents overseas are taking an active interest to tap the domestic players’ market. With the number of T20 leagues mushrooming across the world, they don’t just provide opportunities, but also fill pockets.

“There are so many leagues coming up now and you need players. So if you can get a few of the quality cricketers from India, the profile increases. Right now, many state units did not offer NOCs to play in the UK leagues because they fear they may not go back to India,” Steven Hirst of CricX said.

Shah, who has been a player before he donned the administrator’s hat, believes while the contract system may tie up the player, the politics involved in state units may see deserving players miss out.

“Why change something that is working. If you play the whole season, you will get Rs 15 lakhs. Make it Rs 25 lakhs. I even want junior cricketer fees to be increased. Nowadays, the cost of bat, shoes… everything is very expensive. With Rs 15,000 per match, you can’t do anything about it because they are missing out on academics too. Increasing their match fee is the best option,” he said.