Cricket Australia keeps top players in dark over contract rankings

While Cricket Australia’s contract list pecking order was never formally made public, word of where top players sat tended to filter out. But that has changed, reports DANIEL CHERNY.

Cricket Australia contracted players like Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Pat Cummins will no longer be told where they sit in the pecking order. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Cricket Australia is keeping its top players in the dark about where they sit in the game’s financial pecking order under a change of policy which has the potential to guard against intra-squad jealousy.

For more than a decade, CA-contracted players have been privately told where they rank in terms of pay on the list of annual central contracts.

While the lists were never formally made public, word of where top players sat relative to each other tended to filter out.

Test and one-day captain Pat Cummins has unsurprisingly topped the men’s contract list in recent years.

However, while CA announced its contract list for 2023-24 in early April, players are yet to be told their respective rankings, and may not be at all.

Pat Cummins has regularly topped the contract list in recent years. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images

A CA spokesperson confirmed on Monday that the governing body had thus far decided against informing players of their rankings but reserved the right to change tack.

No one specific reason has been given for the decision although cricket sources have acknowledged that providing players with the information has its pitfalls.

The move has been met with mixed reviews in player and agent circles, with some of the view that it is unnecessary and counter-productive to pit teammates in competition with each other.

The alternative position however is that CA owes it to players to provide accountability for its decisions.

Players could still seek to find out where they rank by ascertaining the salaries of others however this would obviously be harder to verify.

As flagged by CODE Sports earlier this year, CA opted to extend its central contract list in both men’s and women’s cricket under its new memorandum of understanding with the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

Women’s contracts have gone from 12-15 to 15-18 under the five-year deal, while men’s contracts have moved from 17-20 to 20-24.

The extended men’s contract list ensured the likes of fringe quicks Sean Abbott, Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and Michael Neser all received CA deals.

Originally published as Cricket Australia keeps top players in dark over contract rankings