Freelancers: a threat or good for the game? Print E-mail
Category: Features
Written by Luke Tagg   
Tuesday, 22 December 2009 19:52
Aussie cricket is getting its frilly pink panties in a twist over the recently released Australian Cricketers' Association Current Player Survey 2009, which revealed that plenty of players would be quite happy to become freelance cricketers at the expense of an international career.

The survey results have been described by ACA chief Paul Marsh as "one of the biggest (issues) cricket has faced."

Almost a quarter of Australia's current 25-man contract list of players said they would consider declining extensions to their contracts to become freelancers.

Eighty-seven percent said they thought the IPL was good for the game, and all of the above concepts are closely linked.

The most common factors players would consider when deciding whether to go freelance include "a reduction in touring commitments, greater earning potential, fewer physical demands and the avoidance of scheduling conflicts with the IPL", according to Cricinfo.

Basically, Australian cricketers (and no doubt players from all major countries) all watched as Andrew Flintoff got the fame and the glory before quitting international cricket to become a highly paid soldier of fortune, and to a man they thought to themselves: "Sure. I'll have me summa that".

And why wouldn't they? As great an honour as it is to represent your country, your first duty is to the wife. And when you ask t'missus whether she thinks you should hang around the fringes of the national squad for year after year, hoping in vain to become the Next Great Thing while visiting home for five minutes per annum, or whether you should make millions and millions and millions of dollars and have everyone on Earth love you while hardly ever leaving your back porch, guess how she might vote?

Go on - wild guess. Shot in the dark. Clutch at that damn straw.

People are people and cricketers are people and therefore cricketers want to make lots and lots of money smart quick. For some reason commercial pinings have always been frowned on in cricket, while every other sport on Earth has no problem with players wanting to make as much as possible while they still can.

Although most international cricketers are plenty well remunerated for their services, it comes down to the basic tenet that any given person on the planet would be happy to get paid more for doing less. It's what we all aspire to, isn't it?

The IPL, the Champions League Twenty20 and the growing gargantuan that is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is drastically changing the professional landscape of cricket. To fight it won't help.

I have no problem with the concept of freelance cricketers, but I can understand why cricket boards across the world might be choking on their watercress soup. The future of cricket (a long time from now) could well be freelancers only, and boards will have to outbid the rival competitions to hire their own national players.

Ultimately, however, I think it comes down to a need for better cricket scheduling by the ICC. Players would have no problem accepting national contracts if they knew they could still play in the IPL and other competitions, and despite any cynicism I may have raised most players would love to play for the countries - that's what they dreamed of as kids.

I reckon they should cut the amount of international matches played in a year by any given country - already the demands are simply too great on players and that's without the added workload of domestic competitions, world cups, the IPL and so on.

Schedule in window periods for players to play in the major competitions and you're good to go. Easier said than done, of course, but that should be the goal.

The reason I love the IPL and the Champions League Twenty20 is that you get that unique mix of stars of the game with unknowns. I love seeing Graeme Smith playing alongside Shane Warne, or Sachin Tendulkar batting with JP Duminy, while youngsters hitherto unknown rise to the top and announce their skills and careers.

It would therefore be a tragedy if all you had was freelance cricketers - everyone would just be a cricketer, with no country behind him. A spark would be lost.

Cricketers are going to turn freelance in increasing numbers as new money pours unabated into the game - the ICC needs to make sure they are able to play with pride for their countries and with greed for their wives, in equal (or at least fair) measure.

Even cricketers need the odd shag.

For more:

Twenty20 freelancers are game's biggest issue
Australian Cricketers' Association Current Player Survey 2009 (PDF)
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