International players in discussions with IPL franchises to sign multi-league contracts

The Times reported on April 27 that players from different leading countries have been approached by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to sign informal contracts that would allow them to play in multiple leagues.

These conversations have taken place not just in England but in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and West Indies, according to Heath Mills, executive chairman of FICA, the global players’ body.

While no players have signed a contract yet, FICA is aware of such conversations happening for a little while now.

A player being available to play for a franchise in different T20 leagues

The global players’ body confirmed that these conversations are about players being available to play for a franchise in different T20 leagues. It’s not necessarily about signing a player up for all competitions exclusively but rather additional ones to their IPL team. Mills said that different franchises might want a player in multiple competitions.

There will be logistical obstacles to overcome, not least in finding a way around the different draft and auction processes in different leagues, as well as rules on salary caps and retention.

Indian players, the game’s biggest draw cards, will not be available to any league but the IPL. At least not with the BCCI’s current stance of not issuing NOCs (No-Objection Certificates) to play in other leagues.

But the issue has been on the minds of administrators, as evidenced in the blunt words of Richard Gould, the ECB CEO, who recently talked about the need to pay players better for international appearances.

“We’re going to have to pay them more money,” Gould said. “That’s probably likely to be based on appearance money rather than the central-contract element because I think that gives us the most cost-effective way of dealing with any particular competitive tournament at that particular time.

The cricket calendar needs to be rationalized

FICA has long called for a rationalization of the cricket calendar, consistently arguing that the glut of international bilateral cricket, ICC events, and T20 leagues is forcing the best players to choose and prioritize where and when they want to play.

Mills was critical of how members go about putting together the Future Tours Programme (FTP) – the most recent version of which was announced last year. “The current situation sees each board organize their bilateral program and its T20 competition independently of each other.

“And everyone wants the best outcome for them alone. But they also all want the best players to enhance their international and T20 products. But obviously, the best players can’t be everywhere on the same day.

“Our responsibility is to make sure we can compete in the global player market to ensure that our players want to play for us, men and women, both for England and within our domestic competitions. But to do that, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got the financial clout to retain them.”

Test players unlikely to play in all leagues

Earlier this week, the ECB’s managing director, Rob Key, said that prising away England’s biggest stars will not be so easy. “Test cricket is still the hold for English players, I don’t see any time in the near future certainly where one of the Test players, certainly the centrally contracted players, is going to say ‘by the way, I’m going off to America for three weeks,” Key said. “I just don’t think that’s going to happen. That is not a threat at the moment. Obviously, it is different for white-ball cricketers.”

According to Mills, there could be windows where players agree to not play any international cricket when a T20 league is happening. “Everyone will need to compromise a little bit, but it is possible,” he said.