THE THREAT OF FRANCHISE LEAGUES AND THE PROPOSED OVERHAUL OF CENTRAL CONTRACTS BY THE ENGLAND CRICKET BOARD

Background


A central contract in cricket is awarded to players who regularly feature for their national team in test and limited overs cricket. In England and Wales, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is responsible for regulating the sport and has specific rules regarding player contracts, including salaries, player availability and other benefits.

The central contracts were first introduced more than two decades ago and were designed to tackle the lack of cohesion between national and domestic teams. The young domestic players were not being compensated according to merit and therefore the ICC implemented a central contracts system, which each national cricket board would govern.

 

ECB Central Contracts and Proposed Overhaul


At present, the ECB award annual central contracts to players who feature regularly in test and limited overs cricket. This is then reviewed every twelve months depending on performances. The centrally contracted players have their availability dictated by the ECB, who determine when a player might be available for county matches and other franchise leagues.

In recent years, there has been an increase in global T20 leagues offering lucrative contract for players. Players now have the opportunity to earn vast sums of money in other franchise leagues, making it difficult for national cricket boards to compete financially.

Earlier this summer, England cricketer Jason Roy terminated his contract with the ECB early to sign a two year contract to play in the Major League Cricket in the USA. Players from other countries have turned down central contracts from their national side in order to go freelance.

Due to the increased competition, the ECB are looking to move away from the current annual central contracts and are now prepared to offer multi-year central contracts. This will secure the long term international futures of national players and reduce the risk for national cricket boards of losing their best players to franchise leagues. Whilst this will also enable the ECB to have much more control regarding player availability, it is reported that the players who sign multi-year central contracts will still be permitted to play in the Indian Premier League, with availability for other leagues to be restricted.

It remains to be seen how successful such an approach will be as the financial power of franchise cricket only looks set to increase.

 

Legal Considerations


Player contracts are often complex and require a thorough understanding of the specific rules and regulations established by the governing bodies. The negotiation and drafting of player contracts is essential to ensure that the contracts are fair and legally enforceable. In 2021, leading international players in Sri-Lanka refused to sign new contracts as they found the contracts offered by their cricket board to be unfair and non-transparent. Prior to the 2016 T20 world cup, the West Indies team refused to sign the contracts offered to them by the West Indies cricket board due to the huge pay cuts. It is vital that legal advice is sought before any contract is entered into to ensure that the agreement is fair, suitable and reflects the terms negotiated.