NEW DELHI: Lancashire CEO Daniel Gidney has referred to the BCCI’s decision to mandate that its established players play domestic cricket as “fantastic prioritising”. He has accused the agents of English players of helping their team’s entry into the lucrative franchise leagues at the expense of the traditional red-ball competition. Gidney believes that the English County Championship‘s future is in jeopardy because of these agents.
All international players, with the exception of veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah, are required by the BCCI to participate in domestic cricket competitions like the Ranji and Duleep Trophy when they are not occupied with national duties.
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lost their central contract deals with the BCCI because they chose to forgo domestic matches in favor of the IPL. While Kishan did not participate in any Ranji games despite constant prodding, Iyer did participate in all of the knockout stages, including the championship match.
Many people agreed with the BCCI’s decision, among them Gidney, one of cricket’s longest-serving chief executive officers.
“Imagine a governing body (BCCI) actually saying that out loud … That was fantastic prioritising,” Gidney was quoted as saying by ‘The Guardian’, as per PTI.
The CEO of Lancashire remarked that the agents “don’t care” about the county game and referred to them as the biggest threat to the English County Championship’s future.
“We need to have more of an open conversation. Coaches get blamed, administrators get blamed, but if you want to blame anybody, blame agents,” Gidney said on the sidelines of a match between Lancashire and Somerset at Old Trafford.
He added, “I think the game as a whole needs to come together to find a way to support the championship.
“England players don’t have to play in the championship, agents don’t care about the championship.”
Gidney suggests that raising the players’ salaries may be beneficial.
“More prize money would help and I think we need to find a way of paying four or five players a lot more money. Instead of GBP 80,000-90,000 being the top domestic salary, we need to find a way of paying GBP 200k … and saying part of that deal is that you don’t play franchise cricket.”
Gidney stated that he is not opposed to players making a decent living by competing in the T20 competitions, but he did ask for a cap on franchise involvement to safeguard first-class cricket. The maximum amount of T20 leagues that a specific professional player can play in.
“They have a career – I’m not begrudging their ability to earn money – but the balance has tipped … When the bottom rung of the Hundred is what a rookie would earn in the championship – who among us would turn down earning more money for less work?”
Jay Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, issued a warning earlier this year to all centrally-contracted Indian players asking them to play domestic cricket matches, citing the serious consequences of not doing so.
All international players, with the exception of veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah, are required by the BCCI to participate in domestic cricket competitions like the Ranji and Duleep Trophy when they are not occupied with national duties.
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lost their central contract deals with the BCCI because they chose to forgo domestic matches in favor of the IPL. While Kishan did not participate in any Ranji games despite constant prodding, Iyer did participate in all of the knockout stages, including the championship match.
Many people agreed with the BCCI’s decision, among them Gidney, one of cricket’s longest-serving chief executive officers.
“Imagine a governing body (BCCI) actually saying that out loud … That was fantastic prioritising,” Gidney was quoted as saying by ‘The Guardian’, as per PTI.
The CEO of Lancashire remarked that the agents “don’t care” about the county game and referred to them as the biggest threat to the English County Championship’s future.
“We need to have more of an open conversation. Coaches get blamed, administrators get blamed, but if you want to blame anybody, blame agents,” Gidney said on the sidelines of a match between Lancashire and Somerset at Old Trafford.
He added, “I think the game as a whole needs to come together to find a way to support the championship.
“England players don’t have to play in the championship, agents don’t care about the championship.”
Gidney suggests that raising the players’ salaries may be beneficial.
“More prize money would help and I think we need to find a way of paying four or five players a lot more money. Instead of GBP 80,000-90,000 being the top domestic salary, we need to find a way of paying GBP 200k … and saying part of that deal is that you don’t play franchise cricket.”
Gidney stated that he is not opposed to players making a decent living by competing in the T20 competitions, but he did ask for a cap on franchise involvement to safeguard first-class cricket. The maximum amount of T20 leagues that a specific professional player can play in.
“They have a career – I’m not begrudging their ability to earn money – but the balance has tipped … When the bottom rung of the Hundred is what a rookie would earn in the championship – who among us would turn down earning more money for less work?”
Jay Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, issued a warning earlier this year to all centrally-contracted Indian players asking them to play domestic cricket matches, citing the serious consequences of not doing so.
