There is growing concern in the cricket community about the influence of the new Indian Twenty20 competitions.
While it is still unknown whether Shane Bond will take the money, New Zealand cricket may have to prepare for the departure of even more top line players.
It was a rare quiet moment for Darryl Tuffey today.
The former Black Cap fast bowler was back home after taking part in the Rebel Indian Twenty20 league.
Joining the unsanctioned tournament meant the 29-year-old had to prematurely end his international career.
With news the tournament is set to expand this year, more of New Zealand’s top cricketers could be about to make the same choice.
”There’s no doubt a number of our players are sitting up and watching the development of these Twenty20 competitions in India,” Heath Mills from the Players Association said. “Some of them are very interested in seeing if there are opportunities for them.”
And it is understandable, with hundreds of thousands of dollars being offered to play the shorter form of the game and for only a few months commitment.
Meanwhile, New Zealand cricket is taking steps to counter it, including an increase in player payments, thanks to a recent $50 million windfall from television rights.
”We will be able to pay our players better and we are hoping that those as well as the attraction of wanting to play international cricket for New Zealand are enough to make sure our best players stay in the country,” the CEO of NZ Cricket, Justin Vaughan said.
While individual countries can only do so much, there are growing calls for the ICC to step in and recognise the tournaments.
”If you embrace them and work with them, you have an ability to preserve international cricket as the pinnacle of the sport,” Heath Mills said. “If you push them away, you can’t control them.”
And while it may be too late to save some of the country’s brightest stars, it is not too late to do something about the future ones.
Source : http://www.tv3.co.nz/
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