Australian legendary captain Pat Cummins and fellow teammate Travis Head were unofficially offered a whopping sum of $10 million per year, with a deal to leave Australian cricket and play full-time in overseas T20 franchise leagues.
Huge growth in franchise cricket has been noted in recent times, as many countries around the world have introduced their own T20 leagues in line with global standards.
Many stars have been attracted to such leagues, while many of the game’s greats, such as Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, or Nicolas Putnam, retired from international cricket to feature in such leagues.
The world currently has the Indian Premier League, Big Bash League, Major League Cricket and SA20 as the biggest known franchise tournaments. It also features several other leagues, such as the Caribbean Premier League, Vitality Blast, and The Hundred, among other global platforms for cricketers.
Pat Cummins offered almost 6 times his annual income to leave Australian cricket
Australian captain Pat Cummins and deputy Travis Head have been offered a huge sum of around $10 million to leave Australian cricket and play in overseas T20 franchise tournaments around the world.
According to Cricket Australia’s recent standards, top Australian cricketers typically earn around $1.5 million annually from their national contracts. Overall, Pat Cummins, the Australian World Cup-winning skipper, earns $3 million from international cricket, once his captaincy stipend is taken into account.
This year an IPL team was proposed by the group; However, this was politely rebuffed by two Australian greats, who are undoubtedly valuable assets to Australian cricket.
Jofra Archer rejects one-year deal from Mumbai Indians
England fast bowler Jofra Archer has rejected a similar year-long deal to play for Mumbai Indians in 2023. The offer for the English cricketer was more than $7.5 million over a period of 12 months.
While players like Pat Cummins and Travis Head refused such offers, his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Heinrich Klaasen recently retired from all formats of international cricket in June to feature exclusively in the global franchise tournament.
Although Cummins and Head also remain among Australia’s most underrated all-format cricketers and most valuable athletes, their salaries are much lower than athletes playing under private ownership.
Travis Head had the urge to experience franchise cricket
Last year, in 2024, Pat Cummins, as well as Travis Head, played in both the IPL and Major League Cricket tournaments, on either side of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Head then claimed that he wanted to experience what it was like to play franchise cricket at a greater intensity.
“I played MLC to get a taste of what it would be like to play franchise cricket,” Head said. “I did IPL, a World Cup in MLC, so I wanted to see what it was like to basically play four months of franchise cricket.”
He said, “You want to have every option available to you, you want to experience things and understand how things operate. A lot of people are making certain decisions around the world, and this was a perfect opportunity for me to understand what it was like whenever I might or might not do that in the future.”
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