Separate category of central contracts for Test cricketers? (With higher pay)

[Abdullah719]

From Azhar Mahmood's blog:

Test players need financial security

We need to understand that Mohammad Amir has been through a lot, both physically and mentally, and his body is unable to cope with the pressures associated with all three formats of the game. And this is something he had been considering for the past one year or so around the time we played the one-off Test against Ireland in 2018. So, Amir is trying to extend his career by only playing the shorter forms of the game which is a smart thing to do as in my experience, I have seen people retire completely at the age of 27 due to fitness issues. I have been a witness to his struggles and to his fitness issues which many of his critics cannot understand or refuse to acknowledge. A further complication in Amir’s case is that he didn’t play cricket for 5 years and that did affect his overall fitness. If Pakistan are sensible about it, they can still make good use of his talent as he has now limited himself to white-ball cricket. This is not as strange as it sounds, as Pakistan has other bowlers who would be interested in bowling in Tests. Many other sides do that and have specialist bowlers for each format.

Whilst Amir’s case is slightly different, there are rumours that Wahab Riaz may also decide to the same so there does seem to be a trend of retiring from Tests matches. However, if we wish to ensure that this trend is reversed than some concrete actions will need to be taken. From what I am hearing about the new structure from the PCB, there may be an increase in Test match fees which makes much more sense. In the past, all players regardless of the types of formats they were playing had the same sort of contract. What should happen is that Test players must get a separate category of central contracts simply because there needs to be a differentiation in financial rewards between players who play for up to 5 days in a Test as opposed to those who just bowl 4 overs in a T20I game. Test match players need to be rewarded adequately so that those choosing to play this format alone will also be financially secure. We have good examples of James Anderson and Stuart Broad who only play Tests but are looked after so well by the ECB that they are financially secure despite playing only one format of the game.

 

[azimiqbal]

Agreed test match fees and players should be payed the most

 

[Shaka81]

Why should Test cricket pay the most. It attracts the least crowd in the stadium and poor TV audiences but it's fans expect the rest of cricket to fund their hobbies. Test cricket is dying and its fans need to accept it so we can turn off the life support of income from Limited Overs cricket.

 

[azimiqbal]

Why should Test cricket pay the most. It attracts the least crowd in the stadium and poor TV audiences but it's fans expect the rest of cricket to fund their hobbies. Test cricket is dying and its fans need to accept it so we can turn off the life support of income from Limited Overs cricket.

Cause test cricket is the pinnacle of all cricket! When you are judged as a cricketer no one will care about some t-20 performance. Legends are made in test cricket.

Regarding your comment about pay, they should be paid more due to it being for 5 days.

Would you work for 5 days and expect to be paid the same as someone who only works one day or half a day ?

 

[kingusama92]

To be fair, a smart business would double down on its T20 squad and PSL.

This is where real money can be made.

Test cricket has decreasing demand (3-4 people show up for UAE matches) and doesn't attract serious TV money either. No point in doubling down on something that's dying.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Cause test cricket is the pinnacle of all cricket! When you are judged as a cricketer no one will care about some t-20 performance. Legends are made in test cricket.

Regarding your comment about pay, they should be paid more due to it being for 5 days.

Would you work for 5 days and expect to be paid the same as someone who only works one day or half a day ?

As far as Pakistan is concerned, very small minority follow test cricket regularly.

Even those that follow test cricket, mostly follow through Cricinfo scorecards, or just watch the highlights. Hardly anyone sits there for 5 days in a row and watch the matches. Life is fast paced these days, no one has time for this.

Whats the point of being the pinnacle of all cricket, if even test cricket fans can not watch the matches regularly?

I love test cricket, but even myself, I will only watch maybe a 2 - 3 days our of a whole test series. The rest I will read about in scorecards or watch highlights.

So yes, test cricket is a dying format. It will be subsidized by ODIs and t20s for the next 10 years or so, then will start slowly phasing out as Pakistan will play less and less tests.

 

[Shaka81]

As far as Pakistan is concerned, very small minority follow test cricket regularly.

Even those that follow test cricket, mostly follow through Cricinfo scorecards, or just watch the highlights. Hardly anyone sits there for 5 days in a row and watch the matches. Life is fast paced these days, no one has time for this.

Whats the point of being the pinnacle of all cricket, if even test cricket fans can not watch the matches regularly?

I love test cricket, but even myself, I will only watch maybe a 2 - 3 days our of a whole test series. The rest I will read about in scorecards or watch highlights.

So yes, test cricket is a dying format. It will be subsidized by ODIs and t20s for the next 10 years or so, then will start slowly phasing out as Pakistan will play less and less tests.

Exactly! Test cricket is not self funding. Far from generating income it needs other forms of cricket to ensure it continues. Eventually anyone with any business sense will realise that it's not worth keeping and there is more income and crucially interest in other forms of cricket. Test cricket will become a niche sport with its dedicated followers who will turn up for a day or two for the one or two games a year but otherwise the rest of us with jobs and other life commitments will continue to enjoy the shorter forms of the game. Accordingly the players in these forms of the game will be valued more and paid more because people are actually willing to spend their money to watch them.

 

[Shaka81]

Cause test cricket is the pinnacle of all cricket! When you are judged as a cricketer no one will care about some t-20 performance. Legends are made in test cricket.

Regarding your comment about pay, they should be paid more due to it being for 5 days.

Would you work for 5 days and expect to be paid the same as someone who only works one day or half a day ?

Well if I did a job that generated more income in that day or half day, then the full year of the guy who worked 5 days of course I would expect to get paid more. How would you feel if you were making your company a ton of profit but they kept taking more than half your income and giving it to someone performing badly just because he only follows unpopular traditional methods?