NZ players choose Tests over IPL
By Steve Mcmorran, 26 Jul 2009 Steve Mcmorran is a Roar Rookie
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Australia’s cricket tour to New Zealand next year has been cut from three Tests to two to avoid a potentially damaging rift between the traditional game and the Indian Premier League.
Wellington’s Dominion-Post newspaper on Saturday quoted an unnamed New Zealand Cricket official as saying the schedule for the Australian tour had been shortened to reduce the overlap between the test series and the IPL Twenty20 season.
The Australian tour is now likely to end on March 31 while the IPL – brought forward to avoid a clash with the ICC World Twenty20 Championship which starts on April 28 – would begin around March 12.
The overlap between the Tests and the IPL will still be costly to some players: New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum is likely to give up around $NZ350,000 ($A282,000) of his $NZ700,000 ($A564,500) IPL contract because he will miss the first half of the Indian season.
But the scheduling move by New Zealand Cricket appears to have avoided greater conflict which might have forced players to opt for the Indian league over the international matches.
Several New Zealand players who play in the IPL had delayed signing new contracts with New Zealand Cricket while the dates for the Australian tour and the IPL remained unclear.
New Zealand’s IPL contingent of McCullum, captain Daniel Vettori, all-rounder Jacob Oram, batsmen Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor and fast bowler Kyle Mills are paid between $NZ700,000 ($A564,500) and $NZ150,000 ($A121,000) by their IPL teams.
Payments in the IPL are made on a pro-rata basis, depending on the number of games in which each player appears.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan praised his players for putting country ahead of the lure of the IPL, but warned the conflict between the two modern branches of the game would be ongoing.
“It is something that will recur, and not only for New Zealand,” he said. “However all our players with IPL contracts who were offered New Zealand Cricket contracts have now signed.
“This is an admirable decision by each of these individuals and they should be applauded for it. By signing their contracts they are sacrificing significant sums of money.”
New Zealand players association boss Heath Mills also commended the players’ decision but said it was crucial for cricket’s international authorities to tidy up the international calendar.
“It’s important to celebrate that these guys have made this decision. But in the future who’s to say what decisions players will make and what they will prioritise,” Mills said.
The Australian tour is now likely to comprise Tests at Wellington from March 19 to 23 and Hamilton from March 27 to 31.
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
The Crowd Says (2) | Page 1 of Comments
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July 27th 2009 @ 2:43am
davido said | July 27th 2009 @ 2:43am | Report comment
And here comes the power struggle! I wrote about this in 2005 but it was largely ignored in the hype of the Ashes loss.
The ECB is also feeling the squeeze.
But beware, this is the next big storm. And it will be bigger than Katrina and it could be the death of the TEST as we know it.
For the TEST to survive… national teams must have the best players. BUT players will eventually go with the money. We have seen that in many types of sports over the years. So what to do?
You can contractually bind National players. This will result in the following. First, you will start seeing players ‘retiring’ earlier and earlier. Make a name for yourself and then get out ASAP to make some real money. Secondly, players may choose not to play for their National team. Why slog it out 300 days a year, killing your body when you can play a relatively short season for some easy cash. Both of these will be detrimental to TEST cricket.
The one thing the national boards have going for them right now, is that you still basically get to the IPL through a national team. Or at least that is what brings in the money.
You can accomodate the IPL. Anyone who does business with India will tell you this wont work. The IPL will grow and grow and consume the other forms of the game. You can see the result after just TWO SEASONS!
You cant rely on the ICC. They sold out years ago and are pretty much incompetent anyway.
One suggestion is that CA the ECB and others contractually bind players from the domestic level up. Not a bad idea, but will it work? But I see a lot of ‘restraint of trade’ cases coming with that path.
Another suggestion is to create a rival International league (that really is international). This is possibly the only real solution.
TEST cricket is in danger of becoming the new Royal Tennis.
July 30th 2009 @ 6:47pm
Dave said | July 30th 2009 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
New Zealand cricketers are now more likely to play test cricket than back in the 70′s and 80′s when they couldn’t get Glen Turner to play for them
Cricket is now the richest sport in New Zealand therefore the test cricketers are well paid and compromising on the IPL is not a bad thing. It allows them to earn even more money making the sport attractive to young New Zealand athletes.