33% would retire early for IPL

Survey reveals how cricketers want to make much out of their careers.

SYDNEY:

Nearly a third of cricketers would retire early from international cricket to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) citing fears over fixture clashes curbing their participation in the event, according to a survey of international players released yesterday.

“The IPL continues to be popular, and its superior pay structures continue to challenge players’ priority over international cricket,” said the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) Chief Executive Tim May. “When players are able to earn over ten times their annual salary from their boards, for just seven weeks cricket, it would be foolhardy of boards to continue to schedule international matches during IPL”

Meanwhile, five-year bans handed to three Pakistani cricketers for spot-fixing were too lenient, the survey further revealed respondents saying the bans were inadequate.

“The players want significant penalties to be invoked against those who are found guilty,” added May. “Whilst 100% of players say that they will report any corrupt approaches made to them, 20% of them do not have confidence in the governing body to treat this information confidently.”

May said the vast majority of the players polled were more comfortable reporting corruption approaches to their team manager, than to the International Cricket Council Anti Corruption and Security Unit. The survey also found that 54 % of the players would retire from one or more formats because of too much international cricket.

Players cited the major issues facing the game as governance, corruption and an overkill of international cricket, while only a single-figure percentage said decisions made at ICC Board level were in the wider interests of the game.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2011.