BCCI plans player contracts

N. Ananthanarayanan

The Indian cricket board has begun discussions with national players to introduce a contract system with graded payments which could come into effect this October, a board official said on Friday.

Senior players are in favour of contracts with payments based on seniority and also want the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to guarantee payments to players even for matches missed due to injury, he said.

"The BCCI has initiated a process of discussion. The players are also for graded payments," Ratnakar Shetty, joint secretary of the Bombay association who is talking to the players on behalf of the board, told Reuters by telephone.

Indian players are currently paid for each test but there are no fully-fledged contracts because many players have jobs and are not strictly professionals.

The board pays them 180,000 rupees ($3,835) for a test match and 155,000 rupees for a one-day international.

Under the new scheme being considered by the BCCI's finance committee, 25 players will be signed up for a one-year contract and payments will be graded according to the number of matches they have played. The details are still being worked out.

Shetty met skipper Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath in Bangalore on Thursday to discuss the new system.

"There will be a series of meetings. If evolved, it will come into effect probably for the next season, October onwards," Shetty said.

"The BCCI now has a policy by which the entire medical expenses of players are taken care of but players don't get anything during their absence from the game."

Shetty said players wanted the board to follow the South African model, which assures players match fees for six months, or the Australian system, which pays players for two years.

Shetty said leg-spinner Kumble would represent the players in further discussions with the board and get feedback from his team mates during the test tour of Zimbabwe, starting later this month.

The board will also study its legal aspects before finalising the contract system because some of the players also have separate jobs, he said.

"The players felt that, apart from India and Pakistan, all other teams were on contract."

Mail Cricket Editor