Cricket Australia offers multi-year contracts to top players to keep them out of IPL: Reports

In a bid to make top Australian players forgo the riches of the Indian Premier League, Cricket Australia (CA) has offered multi-year contracts before them.

As per reports in the Sydney Morning Herald, Steve Smith, David Warner and fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were contacted individually in recent weeks with verbal offers of three-year deals rather than standard one-year central contracts on the condition that they sit out the IPL.

The report, however, added that the offers were met with lukewarm responses from the players. “The terms of the multi-year deals discussed informally with Howard were regarded by the players as underwhelming, with the only perceived incentive for them missing the IPL being the security of a three-year contract,” the report said.

It is believed that if CA had to succeed in its move, it has to come up with big cash incentive since Steve Smith and David Warner, who captain their IPL franchises, collect more than USD 1 million a year. Their earning capacity is set to rise sharply with a new IPL broadcast deal tipped to see the event’s player payment pool double.

Warner’s retainer with CA is estimated to be worth USD 2 million but he could …read more