Melbourne : Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Todd Greenberg has cautioned about the peril of not paying Australia's top male cricketers adequately in the coming years, as the board tries to protect them from the lure of lucrative franchise leagues. CA is dealing with a number of uncomfortable financial cuts in a year they announced AUD 11.3 million deficit, as per ESPNcricinfo.
CA held its annual general meeting in Melbourne on Thursday, where Greenberg and CA chair Mike Baird addressed stakeholders from across the country. They clarified that the financial loss had been anticipated well in advance and was not a surprise, despite hosting the high-profile Border-Gavaskar series last season. Both officials expressed confidence that India white-ball tour and the home Ashes will help CA record one of its most profitable years ever.
However, tensions were reported during the AGM, particularly from Cricket Victoria chair Ross Hepburn, who raised concerns about recent budget cuts.
Another key issue under consideration is the potential introduction of private investment in the Big Bash League (BBL). Greenberg acknowledged the growing challenge of retaining Australia's top male players, given the financial might of global franchise leagues. "It's a big part of our decisions," Greenberg told reporters on Thursday, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. "There's no secret that every sports league in the world has one significant thing in common, they have the best players playing in those leagues. And so the moment we take for granted that our Australian players will play in our leagues or play for their teams is at our peril," he added.
"We can't stand still. We've got to keep an eye on what's happening. Of course, we want to protect everything that's sacrosanct about what's been great about Australian cricket over generations, but we've got to have an eye to the future," he noted. "And we're not talking about in six months or 12 months. We're talking about long-term generational change, and it's incumbent on us as leaders of the sport to make sure we explore all of those things, and that will get uncomfortable for people, and it will challenge people," he said.
The decision to potentially increase player payments while cutting support for Indoor Cricket community has raised eyebrows among the states. "Of course, we would love to fund everyone and everything, but at the end of the day, we've got to make sure we put our money in the right places at the right times," Greenberg said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"We'll always be looking to help community groups or indoor cricket and whatever other types of formats we can but at the end of the day, we can't give out what we don't have," he added. Interestingly, Greenberg previously served as the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association and played a major role in the 2023 pay agreement between CA and the players, which runs until 2028. Yet, those who are involved in the deal within the high performance arm of Australian cricket believe the deal is already outdated given how rapidly the franchise landscape has evolved.
Although Australia has not yet lost any cricketer to franchise cricket full-time, Greenberg admitted that the threat remains real. The national setup has already been managing player schedules to allow them to participate in leagues such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) while occasionally missing bilateral series.
"It's the challenge that sits right in front of us," Greenberg said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. "We've got to continue to make opportunities for them to be inside the Australian team environment...and I can tell you that they all want to be there. They all want to win competitions. They all want to compete for the Ashes. They want to win a World Cup," he added.
"But we can't take that for granted. We can't sit there and expect that the next generation will do exactly the same thing. It's on us to work really hard to make those environments and to pay them appropriately, to make sure that those things thrive in the future, and us sitting around just hoping that will happen will fail spectacularly, which is why the work that we're doing now and the conversations we're having are important long term," he noted.
Meanwhile, Baird assured that CA's financial position is expected to improve significantly next year, thanks to sell-out crowds and massive broadcast revenues from India's tour and the Ashes. "Next year we are going to have a record year in cricket," Baird said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. "You're going to see the most attendance, the most viewership, the most sponsorship. It is undoubtedly going to be the biggest year that cricket has ever seen," he added.