MCC committee urges the cricketing bodies to fix the wage issue

With a number of domestic T20 leagues getting better and bigger; the money involved for the players has increased manifold. Responding to the challenge the MCC committee has urged the cricketing bodies around the globe to work and fix the issue of wages of their players.

As per the committee, if the issues related to the wages are not resolved quickly, a number of players will be lured to the T20 leagues around the world instead of the top-level cricket for the national sides. The committee picked up the example of Bangladesh’s star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and England wicketkeeper Johnny Bairstow and discussed how the wage-gap.

Shakib puts Bangladesh perspective

The number 1 ranked all-rounder in Tests and T20I, Shakib put the perspective of Bangladesh players in front of the committee which had likes of Ricky Ponting, Kumara Sangakkara, and Brendon McCullum. According to the Bangladeshi, the younger players from the country now aim to get into the lucrative deals of the T20 leagues instead of trying to play Test cricket.

Ponting said that the T20 leagues provide the players better options of making money without a lot of trouble which becomes a major reason for the players to even think of skipping games for the country in order to play the domestic leagues. He said that IPL’s success was one of the major reasons for the existence of other domestic leagues and according to the former Australia skipper one cannot blame the players for taking part in these leagues.

Giving the example of how the Australians or the English players are better paid than some of the other countries Ponting said that these players have their priorities in place and give higher preference to international cricket. He batted for a better pay structure (closer to that of Australia or England) that helps the players in the later part of their lives once they retire.

The committee also discussed the future of Test cricket which has been under a threat because of the popularity of the shorter version of the game around the world.