Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Xmas bonus for cricketers

A large group of Australian cricketers have managed to land a nice cash bonus courtesy of their participation in Amazon doco

The Test detailed the journey of the Australian cricket team from sandpapergate to the Ashes

The workers in Jeff Bezos’ warehouses might struggle to get a fair wage out of the man said to be worth $250 billion dollars, but a large group of Australian cricketers have managed to get their hands on a nice $3.5 million windfall from his Amazon group.

The money trickled down and took the best part of six months to get into their bank accounts, but 40 odd players hit the Christmas sales with an $80,000 bonus.

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The money is a result of a long running negotiation with Cricket Australia over the successful Amazon documentary, The Test, which was used to promote the American company’s streaming service.

The incredible part of the deal is that every single player who appears in the show gets exactly the same amount. A Mitchell Swespon or Will Pucovski, who appear in passing, get the same as a Steve Smith or Pat Cummins who were central to the narrative.

A number of the big stars sat down for repeated interviews and were key to the impact.

The fact the deal was done by the Australian Cricketers Association, which does not represent the coaches, meant other key character, like Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting were not included in the Christmas windfall.

It is understood they may have negotiated a separate deal well before the players who wrestled with headquarters over the way the money would be distributed.

The documentary was a surprise to many of the participants. On the day Langer was appointed coach of the Australian team he was surprised to find a cameraman in the car as he was driven around for the announcement.

The access to the team was incredible and made the series compelling viewing.

Seeing Langer kick over the bin in the coaches’ box on the last day at Headingley and then get down to put all the rubbish back in it was extraordinary, as were the scenes in the dressing room following that defeat.

Nathan Lyon’s desolation was almost difficult to behold, but the rest of the team were not far behind him in their mourning.

Tim Paine’s subsequent address was a revelation.

Cameraman Andre Mauger had won the confidence of the team during earlier roles with Cricket Australia, but became something of a mascot to the outfit during his time when he was effectively embedded in the various squads.

Mauger was recruited to tell the team a joke before play every morning and was sensitive enough to keep his cameras and intrusions discrete.

That access caused further angst for Cricket Australia when Fox Sports and Channel 7 pointed out that they had paid over $1b for television rights only to find another group getting what they wanted.

While the broadcasters get more access to players than ever before they still get frustrated at denials and were furious to think that Amazon paid somewhere around $9m to get what they could not.

Andre Mauger, the one-man-band who filmed the groundbreaking documentary The Test about the Australian cricket team, with English spinner Jack Leech

Prior to the documentary the only times cameras had any real access to dressing room scenes was in the wake of series victories.

The project was something of a master stroke by Cricket Australia who began shooting it with a small production company before Amazon came on board.

The money the American firm tipped in allowed producers to throw more resources and time at the project.

The other win for Australian cricket through the project cannot be quantified by counting profits.

The documentary begins in the aftermath of the sandpaper gate affair.

Its first episodes are somewhat gruelling as Langer and Paine take the team to the UK for a one day series where they are thrashed by an England side on its way to a World Cup victory the following summer.

In that series the side is missing David Warner and Steve Smith through suspension and most of the bowlers through injury.

In the 2018-19 summer the bowlers return, but India win a historic victory in the Border-Gavaskar trophy. At times the strains within the side as the losses pile on are acute and things threaten to come to a head during a stand off between players and coaches.

There is, however, even in the India series an emerging narrative of a team finding its way on and off the field.

The Test provided insight into the thinking of Australian coach Justin Langer

The players want to win back the faith of the public which had been badly shaken by the breach in South Africa.

Paine and Langer are central to the story and both are revealed to be men of impressive – if somewhat contrasting – character.

The documentary then tracks the return of Smith and Warner on the eve of the Ashes and is on hand for Smith’s extraordinary two centuries at Edgbaston on return and then the terrifying moments when he was hit at Lord’s.

The program concludes with the side retaining the Ashes in England.

As an exercise in rebuilding brand it turned out to be invaluable. It’s also turned out to be a nice little earner for a lot of cricketers.