England Men's team willing to take 15% pay cut to help ECB

The England men cricket team’s centrally contracted players have decided to take a 15 percent pay cut as a compensation for the loss incurred by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The game of cricket was halted for a period of 6 months, starting from mid-March and finally resumed after ECB and Cricket West Indies decided to play a Test series in England in a bio-secure bubble.

The reports suggest that the England cricket board has already incurred a loss of a whopping £100 million ($130 million) and this figure is expected to rise above £200 million next year. The annual contracts, which started on October 1, were understood to have been worth £650,000 for Test stars and £275,000 for white-ball performers in 2019/20.

As a part of the cost-cutting measures due to the financial crisis, the governing body also had to cut 62 jobs last month. The England players including the likes of pacers Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes had already mentioned that all the England cricketers are ready to take a pay cut to help the authorities. On October 23, Friday, ECB revealed that the pay cut would be done from retainers, match fees and win bonuses.

Ashley Giles, director of men’s cricket, applaud the players for supporting ECB

After the players gave their consent on pay cut, director of men’s cricket team Ashley Giles came forward to laud the players and the Team England Player Partnership (TEPP) for their support in these unprecedented times. He also hailed the players for understanding the gravity of the situation and handling the matter with maturity.

“The relationship with our men’s players and their representatives (TEPP) is strong, and we need to recognise that our players, led by captains Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, have conducted themselves with great maturity and responsibility throughout this challenging time,” Giles said as quoted by Times Now.

“We now want to build on this agreement and work together on a number of areas relating to player welfare, particularly mental health, which remains a high priority for all of us, as we continue to navigate a path through this pandemic.” he added.

The chairman of TEPP, Richard Bevan also appreciated the cricketers saying, “These are unprecedented times and once again the players have shown that they fully appreciate the important role they play in helping cricket emerge from this pandemic in as strong a position as possible.”