Top English cricketers are considering giving up their central or county contracts to accept full-time deals with Indian Premier League (IPL) teams.
Initial discussions have taken place after at least six English players, including some international stars, were approached by IPL franchise owners and asked whether, in principle, they would accept a deal that would make an Indian team their main employer, rather than the ECB or an English county.
This development follows discussions among players’ unions around the world about the potential implications of 12-month franchise contracts, which would be a significant step towards the football model of elite players being primarily contracted to their team and released for international duty, rather than the other way around. One source told The Times that contract offers could come as soon as the end of the year.
The probability of such a model being adopted has grown increasingly likely in recent years as some IPL franchise owners have bought stakes in several T20 tournaments in the UAE, South Africa, Caribbean — and now the United States with the new Major League Cricket venture which begins in July.
However, the prospect of a change of this magnitude has been accelerated by the imminent arrival of Saudi Arabia into the T20 franchise league market. The Saudi government is in talks with the owners of the IPL to set up a lucrative new competition that could divide the sport in a similar way to the controversial LIV Tour’s impact on golf.
With at least five tournaments in which IPL franchises have a stake, players contracted to a franchise could be in action for about seven months a year. The IPL is set to expand to ten weeks in the next couple of years and, with the huge amount of money it is willing to put into a new tournament, Saudi Arabia is likely to want a tournament of similar length.
The Gulf tournament would not be in April or May, to avoid clashing with the IPL, and the Saudis are also expected to push for a window in the calendar that is free from international cricket, as the IPL has.
Discussions have already taken place with a number of high-profile Australian players about full-time deals but this has now been extended to English players. Contracts could be worth upwards of £2 million a year and even as high as £5 million — more than five times the value of the highest England central contracts.
Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, said last week that the governing body was concerned about the impact of global tournaments and will be substantially increasing the match fees paid to England players, in addition to offering some players multi-year contracts.
Reduced IPL deals — covering at least three of the rounds — would also be on offer. It is unlikely that any of England’s Test stars will walk away from their central contracts in favour of a franchise contract but the sheer amount of money on offer makes that a risk in the future. What is more likely is that players will arrange “bespoke” deals depending on their own circumstances, which could result in them being part-contracted to their county or the ECB and part-contracted to a franchise.
There are also a number of hurdles that would need to be overcome before IPL franchises could offer these contracts, including a change in International Cricket Council regulations.
At present it is not possible to be a purely freelance T20 player. All players need to get permission from their home board — a “No Objection Certificate” — before taking part in any ICC-sanctioned T20 tournament, but the millions of pounds on offer, player power and the power of the BCCI — the Indian cricket board — will have a significant influence in any discussions.
