Guns for Hire

Lots of Them...

    It’s been coming for years, at least a decade. Ten years ago a handful of West Indian players became outcasts for declining national contracts in favour of ‘free agency’. They were labelled ‘selfish’ and described as ‘money-grabbing mercenaries.’ They were a tiny minority back then, but they may soon be acclaimed as pioneers with the vision of the direction the game has now taken.

    Free-agent players are not just acceptable, there is a vociferous fight for their services. The mash-up between domestic T20 leagues for international players to fill their ranks has become brutal. And the cricketers will be the winners. National boards cannot compete financially. Very soon, national contracts outside India will become redundant, even in England and Australia.

    The three-way tussle for players during the January/February window is the most fierce at the moment but it is just the beginning. The UAE-based International League (ILT20) and South Africa’s new league (SANL) have placed an unbearable squeeze on Australia’s Big Bash (BBL) and the truth is, there just aren’t enough big-name, quality players to go around.

    The SANL has stolen a march on the others by securing the services of the best T20 batsman in the world, Jos Butter, along with fellow big-name Englishmen Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone. England are due to play an ODI series against SA immediately after the SANL which means more Englishmen will be available – look out for Ben Stokes playing at least the second half of the SANL.

    Contracting Buttler is a massive coup, daunting for the SANL’s competitors. Sponsors have been strongly alerted to the seriousness of the SANL’s intent. But for all the financial strength provided by the six IPL Franchise owners and broadcast partner Supersport, it pales by contrast to the ILT20 dollar-muscle.

    All the talk of ‘salary caps’ and ‘squad budgets’ is just that – talk. There are no regulators to monitor expenditure and, despite player auctions scheduled for the ILT20 and the SANL, the leagues are already acquiring the services of players and have given permission for their Franchises to do the same. All the best items will be long gone by the time the auctions take place.

    The three Englishmen were persuaded by SANL Commissioner, Graeme Smith, to play in SA rather than the UAE but there’s also no doubt that the Paarl-based Rajasthan Royals and Wanderers-based Chennai Super Kings were influential in having Buttler and Moeen back in their extended ‘families’.    

    There will be 18 players in each of the six ILT20 squads of whom only four will be local, Emirati cricketers. Two more will be from Associate Nations and a staggering 12 will be overseas players from major nations. The ILT20 intends to employ 72 professionals from around the professional, cricket-playing world.

    As was reported by the Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald a few days ago, 15 of Australia’s most high profile male cricketers have been approached with offers ranging between $150k and $500k to ditch the BBL in favour of the UAE. The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) Chief Executive, Todd Greenberg, said: “I’ve been really heartened by the maturity of the players in response, because after a discussion and communication and a bit more context, they’re not just thinking about the short-term,” Greenberg said.

    “They do have this genuine sense of care about the game – if they didn’t, they would be mercenaries and take what’s in front of them. But they’re not, they’re actually taking a mature, considered approach to this and trying to be part of the solution.”

    ‘Matured consideration’ comes at a price. BBL administrators have already made an unprecedented offer to David Warner, who turns 36 in October, to keep him in the BBL after a clever news leak that he was considering accepting an offer of around $500k to play in the ILT20. There will be plenty more Australian cricketers interested in a share of where that money is coming from. They may be willing to find it elsewhere if it is not forthcoming.

    The ILT20 already has more than 25 of the West Indies’ best players signed, or on the verge of signing, and a dozen Englishmen. There are two massive, untapped markets remaining. The problem for Pakistan’s best players is that five of the ILT20 teams and all six of the SANL teams are owned by IPL teams or massive Indian corporates. Not only are they unlikely to sign Pakistan’s players, but if they did the PCB has already strongly indicated that it will not issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to its players to participate.

    The final market is South Africa. But South Africa’s players will be busy with their league at the same time, surely? Not necessarily.

    As I suggested a couple of weeks ago, the IPL owners will have effective control of the SANL whatever the ownership percentage suggests. They have decreed that seven of the 17 places in each squad will be reserved for overseas players, one of whom will be a young Indian, and just 10 for local South Africans. Once the contracted Proteas and other, high-profile locals (Faf du Plessis etc) have been placed in the six teams you’re down to about 40. There are around 130 professional cricketers in South Africa.

    Rather than being an inclusive league helping to nurture and develop local talent and provide opportunities for young players to partake in the ‘rebirth’ of the South African cricket, there is a real danger than many players will feel disenfranchised and disillusioned by the new tournament. And may have no difficulty in seeking those opportunities elsewhere…in the ILT20.

    Whether the game needs to rip itself to pieces in order to rebuild is questionable. What is not in doubt is that it is ripping itself to pieces. What happens if T20 leagues go the way of yo-yos?